An image that's dubbed "The Hand of God" by Astronomers
 

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/a966...-handofgod.jpg

'Hand of God' captured in NASA image

What looks like an X-ray of a hand is actually the remains of a star that exploded 17,000 light-years away.

The astronomers who captured this image with a NASA space telescope call it the "Hand of God."

"We don't know if the hand shape is an optical illusion," said Hongjun An of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in a statement from the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Mission.

What the image shows is a pulsar wind nebula, a dying star and the cloud of materials left over from the star after it exploded. The particles are interacting with nearby magnetic fields, causing the particles to glow in the image, according to NuSTAR.

It's unclear whether the nebula looks like a hand because of the way the particles interact with the magnetic fields or if the particles are actually shaped like a hand.

NuSTAR says the star is about 12 miles in diameter and spins at nearly seven times a second. As the star spins, it spews particles "upheaved during the star's violent death."

The NuSTAR space telescope was launched in June 2012 with the goal of observing black holes, dead and exploded stars and "other extreme objects," according to NuSTAR.

Q

Cool beans, bro.

link it or it doesn't exist

Looks more like Milky Way farted.

There's currently a 74 page debate on the Falcons board over religion because of this photo. With that said, I'll just leave this thread with "ooooo cool! Astronomy rules!"

Beautiful, just imagine how life changing and mind expanding it would be to go into deep space and see something like that close up... you'd never be the same.

Dave Lane very soon 3....2.....1...

I'm just :Poke:ya. We talk about these pics all the time in science thread. You should visit more often.

Yeah, Dave Lane any second now, any second...

My son is going to school to get his doctorate in astrophysics. I asked him why and he said because its a big universe to discover. We know basically nothing about it. Should be fun to be a part of the discovery.

Thats awesome BRC, good for him... ya gotta be one smart cookie to delve into that.

I would imagine that there is an optimum distance for something like this. Bear this is mind:

"We don't know if the hand shape is an optical illusion," said Hongjun An of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in a statement from the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Mission.

That makes sense, I kinda just meant in general, like any of the pics we've seen from the Hubble, only from a few thousand, or even less, miles away.

It would be a literal explosion of awe inside the mind.

It would be WAY too massive to even know what the image resembles.

It would be incredible to be able to get out there and take a look.

ah the singing and harmony....


the heavens declare.

I don't think you can really see it "close up." At a different distance or angle it wouldn't look like that. If you were close enough, you probably wouldn't even know you were looking at anything unusual.

Theres a lot of sense there, from several thousand miles away I would think you could make it out... I dunno though, but its an interesting question what the right distance is to actually see it all.

:spock:

Nah, it's really not a big deal. Look at the various constellations. Just based on our own particular viewing angle people named groups of stars after mythological figures. That's like driving by a group of trees at 75 MPH, thinking one looks like your Uncle Frank, and naming the spot Frank's Field. It's no more meaningful than that.

That's amazing. Is that a toasted cheese with three pieces of bread?

Looks more like the Hand of Homer Reaching for Bacon. Mmmmmmm Bacon......

You've never done that?

No, never

I prefer a grilled cheese sandwich over a toasted one myself.

We don't want to offend anyone with our beliefs.

That's the safe answer.

Unless one actually uses a grill, is it really a "grilled cheese" sandwich?

Yeah, you cant put two pieces of toast in a toaster and slap a piece of cheese in there and call it a "grilled cheese" sandwich.:shake:

Correct. That's a "toasted cheese" sandwhich.

I guess you could toast the bread then pan fry the sandwich.

http://i.imgur.com/IGuqF.jpg

Hitler Toast.

I think WWI Hitler Toast is my favorite.

same with marine biology. We know more about stuff in space than what we know about the ocean floor. Both are fascinating to me.

In the nuclear world we live in I choose to toast the bread and then microwave the slices with the cheese added later. Saves me the enormous trouble of washing a pan.

I have done that. It doesn't taste as good but it's convenient.

Nah. Space is incredible and utterly limitless...Studying the ocean floor is like contemplating your navel.

JMO of course.

It goes great with microwave pancakes.

Steven Irwin screams "**** you! AVENGE ME! AVENGE ME!"

LMAO

Never thought I'd agree with you about something, but you obviously obtained my thoughts by a mind meld.

Somehow this just doesn't have the right ring to it: "Ocean, the final frontier. These are the voyage of an airtight bathtub whose continuing mission to go to the ocean floor and check some stuff out. To explore new lifeforms and go to places where no living person has gone before."

Too much work.

God is all like "Don't leave me hanging bro" in this pic.

One of those fingers are 18 TRILLION miles long. Thats just a snapshot of one part of the universe.

Thank Me the didn't get a picture of what I was doing with that hand right before the picture./ God

You know what they say about a God with big fingers, right?

FWIW, if you saw this with the naked eye, it likely wouldn't look like that. Color enhancement is often added to photos so we can see the unseen.

PS: It it beautiful though. My wallpaper is a rotation of high res space images.

God only has 4 fingers?

Who knew astronomers were soccer fans?

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/...41_468x286.jpg

Beautiful

I wonder if God has hidden the Handjob of God behind a huge, locked Bathroom Door of God?

Do you have more than 4 fingers on one hand?

God is a freaky voyeurist.

No, He has five. The middle one is invisible.

Is that in the new testament or old?

It's Mother Nature ready to bitch slap Japan again.

Trust me, it's not...