TOXICMAN: ? :D

The Curiosity rover used its motorized, wire-bristle brush on a Martian rock for the first time Jan. 6. The brush is designed to remove dust from rock surfaces for analysis by the rover's instruments.
Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

AE Aurigae and the Flaming Star Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh
APOD: 2013 January 7 - AE Aurigae and the Flaming Star Nebula
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130107.html

AE Aurigae is called the flaming star. The surrounding nebula IC 405 is named the Flaming Star Nebula and the region seems to harbor smoke, but there is no fire. Fire, typically defined as the rapid molecular acquisition of oxygen, happens only when sufficient oxygen is present and is not important in such high-energy, low-oxygen environments. The material that appears as smoke is mostly interstellar hydrogen, but does contain smoke-like dark filaments of carbon-rich dust grains. The bright star AE Aurigae, visible near the nebula center, is so hot it is blue, emitting light so energetic it knocks electrons away from atoms in the surrounding gas. When an atom recaptures an electron, light is emitted creating the surrounding emission nebula. In this cosmic portrait, the Flaming Star nebula lies about 1,500 light years distant, spans about 5 light years, and is visible with a small telescope toward the constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga).

TOXICMAN: To je jasnej igelitak ... prasata!

One of the most amazing pictures of a human in space: NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski checking out the progress of repairs he was making to the International Space Station's solar arrays.
Take A Right At The Light | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragileoasis/8352392223/in/photostream/

Krátce před Vánocemi (19. prosince, sol 132) pořídila Curiosity snímky dalšího podivného objektu a tentokrát je situace podstatně vážnější. Tajemný objekt totiž neleží na povrchu ale je součástí balvanu. O co jde zatím není jasné.

Sunspots and Jumbo

Velitel Kevin Ford v modulu Destiny sestavil a uvedl do provozu humanoidního robota Robonaut 2. Pozemní týmy ovládaly robota a ten zkoušel otáčet a přepínat ventily a měřit hodnoty na cvičném panelu.
Robonaut byl navržen se záměrem nahradit kosmonauty při nebezpečných nebo naopak rutinních úkolech a jednou možná i asistovat během výstupů. Robotova stavba a obratnost mu umožňuje používat stejné nástroje jaké používají kosmonauti. Odpadá tak potřeba speciálního nářadí, které by bylo pouze pro něj.

Zdroj:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition34/e34_010213.html, http://www.kosmonautix.cz/viewtopic.php?f=24&p=14453&sid=9f9bd75112349bc17bcce9c72884536d#p14453

Image Credit & Copyright: J. Rhoads (Arizona State U.) et al., WIYN, AURA, NOAO, NSF
APOD: 2013 January 2 - The Einstein Cross Gravitational Lens
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130102.html

Most galaxies have a single nucleus -- does this galaxy have four? The strange answer leads astronomers to conclude that the nucleus of the surrounding galaxy is not even visible in this image. The central cloverleaf is rather light emitted from a background quasar. The gravitational field of the visible foreground galaxy breaks light from this distant quasar into four distinct images. The quasar must be properly aligned behind the center of a massive galaxy for a mirage like this to be evident. The general effect is known as gravitational lensing, and this specific case is known as the Einstein Cross. Stranger still, the images of the Einstein Cross vary in relative brightness, enhanced occasionally by the additional gravitational microlensing effect of specific stars in the foreground galaxy.

Space Shuttle Enterprise is carried by barge underneath the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on June 3 in New York City. Enterprise is on its way to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, where it will put on permanent display

happy 2013 :)

TOXICMAN: Vandalove!

a taky drtíme kameny :)