What’s The Biggest Misconception People Have About Space Or Astronomy In General?

MESSENGER Spacecraft 

MESSENGER (whose backronym is Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging, and which is a reference to the Roman mythological messenger, Mercury) was a NASA robotic spacecraft that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015. The spacecraft was launched aboard a Delta II rocket in August 2004 to study Mercury’s chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field.

The instruments carried by MESSENGER were used on a complex series of flybys – the spacecraft flew by Earth once, Venus twice, and Mercury itself three times, allowing it to decelerate relative to Mercury using minimal fuel. During its first flyby of Mercury in January 2008, MESSENGER became the second mission after Mariner 10’s 1975 flyby to reach Mercury.

MESSENGER entered orbit around Mercury on March 18, 2011, becoming the first spacecraft to do so. It successfully completed its primary mission in 2012. Following two mission extensions, the MESSENGER spacecraft used the last of its maneuvering propellant and deorbited as planned, impacting the surface of Mercury on April 30, 2015

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Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

IC 5070, Pelican in the Swan

Another Moon Shot

Picture of the day - October 26, 2018

A large moon against the backdrop of a stunningly colorful gas giant and it’s rings.

Oculus System - Post 4 (Beautiful Outer Giant)

Here we come across the outer-most planet, a large gas-giant with a violet tint. This giant world has more than 5 times the mass of Jupiter and orbits the sun at an average distance of 7.15 AU. The planet has a beautiful ring system, and is surrounded by a system of 10 spherical satellites.

High Resolution Pics

Picture 1 - Outer-most gas giant - Light Enhanced

Picture 2 - Closeup

Picture 3 - Rising Giant

Picture 4 - Another moon shoot

Picture 5 - Rings over the sly

Picture 6 - Ring Closeup

River Valley

Picture of the day - October 30, 2018

Best shot yet of a river valley I have found, taken on an Earth-like world. The planet has a unique yellow-colored atmosphere.

Behold Tharsis Montes, three massive shield volcanoes in the Tharsis region of Mars. In this illustration by Dutch artist Kees Veenenbos, using data from NASA’s Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, we can see the volcanoes Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons and Ascraeus Mons, southwest to northeast.

(Space 4 Case)

Triangulum Log - Blue Veil System (Post 1) - Introduction

I’ve gone deeper into the Triangulum Galaxy, traveling almost 20,000 light years around the perimeter of the galaxy and coming across this binary orange dwarf system that has 10 planets. The system is next to a blue/teal colored nebula, and lies within an outer arm of the Triangulum galaxy. You may notice there are more stars in the sky compared to the last 2 systems.

High Resolution Pics

Image 1 - Tranquility

Image 2 - Twin Suns

Image 3 - Lunar Sunrise

Image 4 - Calm Giant

Thank You for Following

I see I now have 13 followers. Thank you for that. Glad to see other people are enjoying my space engine pics and other astronomy topics.

Once again thank you.

Sometimes I wonder how beautiful the Universe is, and we do not even have to go that far. Imagine seeing Neptune and Uranus from their moons…

Images: x, x, x, x, x, x, x  (artist’s impression)

The shadow of a moon's eclipse is visible across this gas giant’s rings.