In the most mindblowing bit of astronomical information I've chanced on for a long time, it turns out that the Milky Way has literally hundreds of previously unknown nearby galaxies, that have never been seen before, simply due to being hidden by the Milky Way.

This is an artists's impression, but the positions of the galaxies and their relative shapes and sizes are represented accurately:



The Parkes radio telescope in Aus studied the nearby galaxies. It looked at a total of 883 galaxies, and of which, one third have never been seen before.

As one of the astronomers put it:
"An average galaxy contains 100 billion stars, so finding hundreds of new galaxies hidden behind the Milky Way points to a lot of mass we didn't know about until now."

These galaxies are in the direction of the so-called "Zone of Avoidance, basically directly the other side of the centre of the galaxy from us, and are so hard to see as we have to detect radiation that has managed to get through the entire Milky Way, which is not a lot.

The full article is here.
At the end of the article is a good animation illustrating where these galaxies are in relation to us.

In the most mindblowing bit of astronomical information I've chanced on for a long time, it turns out that the Milky Way has literally hundreds of previously unknown nearby galaxies, that have never been seen before, simply due to being hidden by the Milky Way.

This is an artists's impression, but the positions of the galaxies and their relative shapes and sizes are represented accurately:



The Parkes radio telescope in Aus studied the nearby galaxies. It looked at a total of 883 galaxies, and of which, one third have never been seen before.

As one of the astronomers put it:
"An average galaxy contains 100 billion stars, so finding hundreds of new galaxies hidden behind the Milky Way points to a lot of mass we didn't know about until now."

These galaxies are in the direction of the so-called "Zone of Avoidance, basically directly the other side of the centre of the galaxy from us, and are so hard to see as we have to detect radiation that has managed to get through the entire Milky Way, which is not a lot.

The full article is here.
At the end of the article is a good animation illustrating where these galaxies are in relation to us.

As Mars moves closer, here's a great shot of Vallis Marineris, Mars' Grand Canyon on steroids



This evening, Mars will be as close as it has been since 2005, and here's a handy viewing guide and link, but if you have a clear view south, you'll easily see both Saturn and Mars.

https://astronomynow.com/2016/05/29/see ... pposition/

11pm to midnight is a good time, and a bonus treat is a pass of the International Space Station (ISS) - this will rise in the West and glide by Jupiter, before rising high in the South, it will be exceptionally high and bright and right above Mars at around 00:08, and will then slowly fade as it glides away and disappears in the East around 00:13

Viewing chart

If you're still up, the ISS will be back round at about 01:44

As Mars moves closer, here's a great shot of Vallis Marineris, Mars' Grand Canyon on steroids



This evening, Mars will be as close as it has been since 2005, and here's a handy viewing guide and link, but if you have a clear view south, you'll easily see both Saturn and Mars.

https://astronomynow.com/2016/05/29/see ... pposition/

11pm to midnight is a good time, and a bonus treat is a pass of the International Space Station (ISS) - this will rise in the West and glide by Jupiter, before rising high in the South, it will be exceptionally high and bright and right above Mars at around 00:08, and will then slowly fade as it glides away and disappears in the East around 00:13

Viewing chart

If you're still up, the ISS will be back round at about 01:44

The Juno mission is entering the crucial stages this week, and it's worth looking at their website for some great features.

https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/

A great feature is going to be the Junocam where everyone can get actively involved in the mission. You can upload your own images of Jupiter to help mission planners, vote on points of interest to point the spacecraft at for imaging, and download the Raw images straight to your PC.

It's going to be great.

The Juno mission is entering the crucial stages this week, and it's worth looking at their website for some great features.

https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/

A great feature is going to be the Junocam where everyone can get actively involved in the mission. You can upload your own images of Jupiter to help mission planners, vote on points of interest to point the spacecraft at for imaging, and download the Raw images straight to your PC.

It's going to be great.

Its all a big fake story because as you well know, the earth is flat.

Its all a big fake story because as you well know, the earth is flat.

Don't be silly man , any images will be the creation of CIA , protecting us from viewing the combined US/Nazi base already there , it's the main drop off for the long range trips to Alpha Centauri

Don't be silly man , any images will be the creation of CIA , protecting us from viewing the combined US/Nazi base already there , it's the main drop off for the long range trips to Alpha Centauri

Two great images from space this week -

Amazing image of the aurora at Jupiter's south pole, taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft from just 2,600 miles above.



http://www.space.com/33957-jupiter-north-pole-southern-auroras-first-photos.html

And secondly, the search for the lost comet lander, Philae, is finally over



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37276221


And last but by no means least, Asteroid 17473 (1991 FM3) is now, officially, Asteroid Freddiemercury

Two great images from space this week -

Amazing image of the aurora at Jupiter's south pole, taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft from just 2,600 miles above.



http://www.space.com/33957-jupiter-north-pole-southern-auroras-first-photos.html

And secondly, the search for the lost comet lander, Philae, is finally over



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37276221


And last but by no means least, Asteroid 17473 (1991 FM3) is now, officially, Asteroid Freddiemercury