NASA releases a 4.3GB image that shows a small portion of the Andromeda Galaxy!

[clippedgull]

The image if viewed at maximum resolution would need the equivalent of 600 HD screens!

This image, captured with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is the largest and sharpest image ever taken of the Andromeda galaxy — otherwise known as M31.

This is a cropped version of the full image and has 1.5 billion pixels. You would need more than 600 HD television screens to display the whole image.

It is the biggest Hubble image ever released and shows over 100 million stars and thousands of star clusters embedded in a section of the galaxy’s pancake-shaped disc stretching across over 40 000 light-years.

http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1502a/

Some guy has made a 'video' of the still image. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udAL48P5NJU

It just shows how incredibly big the Universe is!

 

[Mowgli37]

It would be fascinating to know the scale of that image, as in how far apart in light years are each of the stars which appear so densely packed together. The distances involved are simply mind numbing.

 

[symyjym]

Is the universe really big or is everything in it really small

 

[Max Paper]

Religious people should take a look at this and question their sanity. Or maybe God did throw rocks over his shoulder or Adam bonked Eve.

Edit. Apologies for derailing thread.

 

[Dan Aitch]

I see that and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that a woman who's having her period should be kept outside the city walls. What other conclusion could you draw?

 

[Rogero]

Can you see the Amex?

 

[Kuipers Supporters Club]

Religious people should take a look at this and question their sanity. Or maybe God did throw rocks over his shoulder or Adam bonked Eve.

Even though I agree with you, A/ Don't derail the thread, and B/ Lot's of religious, agnostic and some atheists get annoyed when other atheists defend their beliefs in an almost religious or faith like fashion.

The fact is, we can never disprove the theory of God, just like you can never prove it. Even if you 'believe' science it still takes a conscription to that thesis. You have to say to yourself - I am going to believe the theory of science and its results. Even if it can be 'scientifically proved' you still are subscribing to the laws of science, just as some people rightly or wrongly choose to subscribe to the laws and theory of God.

 

[Mowgli37]

Religious people should take a look at this and question their sanity. Or maybe God did throw rocks over his shoulder or Adam bonked Eve.

Quite a lot of Christians agree that Genesis is made up. Rather unnecessary to drag religion into the thread.

 

[Max Paper]

Even though I agree with you, A/ Don't derail the thread, and B/ Lot's of religious, agnostic and some atheists get annoyed when other atheists defend their beliefs in an almost religious or faith like fashion.

The fact is, we can never disprove the theory of God, just like you can never prove it. Even if you 'believe' science it still takes a conscription to that thesis. You have to say to yourself - I am going to believe the theory of science and its results. Even if it can be 'scientifically proved' you still are subscribing to the laws of science, just as some people rightly or wrongly choose to subscribe to the laws and theory of God.

You're right, I shouldn't derail the thread. Quite astonishing images. Mind blowing.

 

[SIMMO SAYS]

The image if viewed at maximum resolution would need the equivalent of 600 HD screens!



http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1502a/

Some guy has made a 'video' of the still image. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udAL48P5NJU

It just shows how incredibly big the Universe is!

That looks like my tiled shower room floor after the three women in my life have visited the facilities

 

[Max Paper]

You're right, I shouldn't derail the thread. Quite astonishing images. Mind blowing.

Original post edited.

 

[Guerrero]

We're all part of God.
All that universe is incredible.
Where are the aliens?

 

[HantsSeagull]

stunning

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

"Space," it says, "is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space, listen..."

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

 

[Juan Albion]

Religious people should take a look at this and question their sanity.

Grow up.

 

[DavePage]

thought it looked like Croydon as it zoomed in, with what looked like random fires scattered around.
The other one was an ink blot

 

[Triggaaar]

Smaller than I thought.

 

[jabba]

You should also check out a new image of the famous 'pillars of creation'. Stunning.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015...niversary-with-high-def-version-iconic-image/

 

[Igzilla]

It would be fascinating to know the scale of that image, as in how far apart in light years are each of the stars which appear so densely packed together. The distances involved are simply mind numbing.

Ok, so dredging up my degree courses, as I recall the Andromeda Galaxy, being the largest member of our Local Group of galaxies, is about twice as big as the Milky Way, and we are due to merge at some point in the far future (10 billion years?). The average density of stars in the Milky Way is actually not as large as you'd think - the best analogy I've heard is it's equivalent of half a dozen tennis balls (representing stars) scattered across North America. However, the density does increase towards the galactic centre, so typical separations would be in the order of tens of AU's (1AU = distance between the Earth and the Sun), but this would be very close to the central supermassive black hole (at the heart of nearly every galaxy). Globular clusters (groups of old stars that orbit larger galaxies, typically around 100k of them or so) can also attain this sort of density, However, most galaxies are quite "thin", so in the aforementioned merger, it is unlikely that any star would "crash" into another, the galaxies would just merge over a period of a few hundreds of millions of years.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Whenever you look up it just gets mind-boggling at the numbers and scale of things, fantastic.

Oh, and religionists are nutters, amen.