the biggest rose in the universe (that we know of)

[pokerfan]

The Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237)



APOD has the wallpaper sized version: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120214.html

[southernyankeebelle]

1. Wow, how beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[LiberalEsto]

2. A rose is a rose is a rose BUT

this one is astonishing!

[eyewall]

3. Thank you!

I have the APOD app but didn't see this one.

Really beautiful.

[sce56]

5. You don't have to have an app to see the Astronomy Picture of the Day

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

[lastlib]

4. I was looking for a rose to send to my lovely lady

Think I'll send her this one! Thank You!

[sarge43]

6. And with dew drops. Classy. n/t

[Little Star]

7. Man, is that pretty!

[valerief]

8. A nebula by any other name...

[SemperEadem]

9. I'll have to add that to my space porn collection

[RoccoR5955]

11. Space Porn

ROTFLMAOPMP!
That's the first time I've heard that.

[SemperEadem]

12. oh, yeah..

I scour jpl and nasa for images of Saturn (I'm a Capricorn and it's my ruling planet) because I just can't wrap my mind around a planet spinning 22,058 mph with 10 hour days that 10 earths can fit inside. I got the sexiest images of Saturn on my work desktop, lol.

[RoccoR5955]

14. Oh, I've been there many a time.

I'm a big advocate of NASA and the space programs. AFAIC, we should have already landed a human on one of Saturn's moons already, but they kept cutting and cutting NASA's budget.

[MarkCharles]

10. SWEET !!! n/t

[BuroshKozorg]

13. That's a beautiful picture.

It's really humbling to think of the sheer scale of the universe. That nebula is 130 light years across. A light year as you probably know is the distance light travels in one year. The farthest distance any human being has traveled is about 360,000 kilometers away, or 1.2 light seconds, to the moon. Just for reference, the sun is 695,500 kilometers across!