Fantastic Photos of our Solar System

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Out-of-This-World.html


In the past decade, extraordinary space missions have discovered new features of the Sun, the planets and their moons

* By Laura Helmuth
* Smithsonian magazine, October 2009


Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Out-of-This-World.html#ixzz0Rm4bUrU1


We've been looking at other planets through telescopes for four centuries. But if you really want to get to know a place, there's no substitute for being there. And in the past decade, more than 20 spacecraft have ventured into the deepest reaches of our solar system. These probes, unlike the Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories that merely orbit Earth, have actually traveled to other planets and approached the Sun, sending back pictures that humble or awe, even as they advance astronomers' understanding of our corner of the universe.

"The past decade has been spectacular in terms of achievements," says Sean Solomon, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and a leader of recent missions to Mercury and Mars.

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Out-of-This-World.html#ixzz0Rm4hXkUX

[Swamp Rat]

1. k&r

[murielm99]

3. Swamp Rat!

I haven't seen you here in ages. It is good to see you again.

[damntexdem]

11. The best pic of them all!

It's going around!!!

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. nice pic

[Va Lefty]

2. Thanks for posting this!

Awesome pics!!
:hi:

[NYC_SKP]

4. I likey dis one:

[Aragorn]

5. thanks

great images at the links

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Lovely. Thanks for posting.

[WeDidIt]

7. This one is incredible

[Arugula Latte]

15. Childhood memory:

My dad was always an amateur astronomy buff (always had a telescope around, etc.) When I was a kid, we had an old black and white photo of Saturn framed and hung on our wall. It was sort of like this, but much grainer (it was from the early '60s or so):



I always assumed it was a picture of a HAT. What a dimwit I was! :rofl:

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

8. Fantastic link to amazing photos!

Thank you very much for posting this. It's a must see.

Biggest Kick And Rec!

[samsingh]

9. the universe is so immense.

what do we really know about reality ?

[damntexdem]

12. What is realty?

And why do I own so little of it? ;-)

[samsingh]

13. you may own more than you realize

[samsingh]

14. lay claim to a neighboring galaxy!

[appamado amata padam]

10. Thx for the link!

Whenever I see pictures like that, I think of how we get so absorbed in our own little "worlds." We forget about the massive spectacle, which we are all part of, that extends for billions of miles around us in all directions. It gives me some comfort that whatever happens to me, or this country, or this planet, the brilliant coursing of the Universe will continue.

[Beaverhausen]

16. wow- thanks so much for posting this

:hi:

[proud patriot]

17. Just wonderous !

Thanks

[byronius]

19. Great Post.