“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” I’m an astrophysics student, so feel free to ask me questions about the images I post (or other space related topics) and I’ll do my best to get you an answer!
Our galaxy is the Milky Way, so it’s exactly 1 by definition - but there are at least 100 billion stars in the Milky Way and many of those must have stellar systems very like our solar system.
In the Universe as a whole, there are an estimated 100 billion to 200 billion galaxies, which will all have billions and billions of stars!
The deepest and sharpest infrared image of the early universe ever taken, this is the first image to be released from the James Webb Space Telescope (released 11th July 2022)
The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope went perfectly! It’s still a month before it will be in position, and 6 months before we get any pictures back, but this is a crucial step in a journey 25 years in the making.
Ever wanted to look back in time? This week, we’re launching a kind of time machine – a telescope so powerful it will help us see back some of the first stars and galaxies made after the Big Bang.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest and most advanced telescope we’ve ever put in space. With revolutionary technology, it will study 13.5 billion years of cosmic history and help humanity understand our place in the stars.
Tomorrow, Dec. 25, at 7:20 a.m. ET (12:20 UTC), the Webb Telescope is set to launch from French Guiana, beginning a 29-day journey to a spot a million miles away.
How to Watch:
In English:
Dec. 25
Live coverage starts at 6:00 a.m. ET/11:00 UTC
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Twitch
In Spanish:
Dec. 25
Live coverage starts at 6:30 a.m. ET/11:30 UTC
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter
youtube
Once Webb launches, the journey has only just begun. The telescope will begin a 2-week-long process of unfolding itself in space before settling in to explore the universe in ways we’ve never seen before.
Follow along on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and with #UnfoldTheUniverse.
Today (9th. December, 2020), NASA announced the first 18 astronauts involved in the Artemis programme, which will see the first woman and the next man on the moon.
This may look like a hole in the sky, but it’s actually full of dust and molecular gas, packed so densely that it absorbs almost all the visible light from background stars. The interiors of dark molecular clouds are among the darkest and coldest places in the universe.
That’s right! We now think that, under the ice, pretty much the entire moon is covered in liquid salt water.
There are four massive cracks near the south pole where water can escape, and the conditions are just right that it reaches its ‘triple point’ - the water freezes and boils at the same time and erupts out of the cracks.