|
|
|
|
  
   |
Hubble telescope's top ten greatest
space photographs:
The Sombrero Galaxy - 28 million light years from Earth -
was voted best picture taken by the Hubble telescope.
The dimensions of the galaxy, officially called M104, are as spectacular as its
appearance.
It has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across.
The Ant Nebula, a cloud of dust and gas whose technical
name is Mz3,
resembles an ant when observed using ground-based telescopes.
The nebula lies within our galaxy between 3,000 and 6,000 light years from
Earth.
In third place is Nebula NGC 2392, called Eskimo because
it looks like a face surrounded by a furry hood.
The hood is, in fact, a ring of comet-shaped objects flying away from a dying
star.
Eskimo is 5,000 light years from Earth.
At four is the Cat's Eye Nebul
The Hourglass Nebula, 8,000 light years away, has a
pinched-in-the-middle
look because the winds that shape it are weaker at the centre.
In sixth place is the Cone Nebula.
The part pictured here is 2.5 light years in length
(the equivalent of 23 million return trips to the Moon).
The Perfect Storm, a small region in the Swan Nebula,
5,500 light years away, described as 'a bubbly ocean of hydrogen
and small amounts of oxygen, sulphur and other elements'.
Starry Night, so named because it reminded astronomers of
the Van Gogh painting.
It is a halo of light around a star in the Milky Way.
The glowering eyes from 114 million light years away
are the swirling cores of two merging galaxies called
NGC 2207 and IC 2163 in the distant Canis Major constellation.
The Trifid Nebula.
A 'stellar nursery', 9,000 light years from here,
it is where new stars are being born.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Antares is the 15th brightest
star in the sky.
It is more than 1000 light years away.
INTERESTING
GEOGRAPHY
Alaska
More than half of the coastline of the entire United States is in Alaska.
Amazon
The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% the world's oxygen supply. The
Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than
one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river; one can dip fresh water
out of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than
the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow
of all rivers in the United States.
Antarctica
Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country.
Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica. This ice also
represents seventy percent of all the fresh water in the world. As strange
as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert. The average
yearly total precipitation is about two inches. Although covered with ice
(all but 0.4% of it), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an
absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.
Brazil
Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way around.
Canada
Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is an
Indian word meaning "Big Village."
Chicago
Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.
Detroit
Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, carries the designation M-1, named so
because it was the first paved road anywhere.
Damascus, Syria
Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand years before Rome was
founded in 753 BC, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in
existence.
Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey, is the only city in the world located on two continents.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles's full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los
Angeles de Porciuncula --and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.
New York City
The term "The Big Apple" was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930's
who used the slang expression "apple" for any town or city. Therefore, to
play New York City is to play the big time - The Big Apple. There are more
Irish in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland; more Italians in New York
City than in Rome, Italy; and more Jews in New York City than in Tel Aviv,
Israel.
Ohio
There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, every one is manmade.
Pitcairn Island
The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in Polynesia, at just
1.75 sq. Miles/4,53 sq. Km.
Rome
The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome, Italy in
133 B. C. There is a city called Rome on every continent.
Siberia
Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.
S.M.O.M.
The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is The Sovereign Military
Order of Malta (S.M.O.M.). It is located in the city of Rome, Italy, has an
area of two tennis courts, and as of 2001 has a population of 80, 20 less
people than the Vatican. It is a sovereign entity under international law,
just as The Vatican is.
Sahara Desert
In the Sahara Desert, there is a town named Tidikelt, which did not receive
a drop of rain for ten years. Technically though, the driest place on Earth
is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island. There has been no
rainfall there for two million Years.
Spain
Spain literally means 'the land of rabbits.'
St. Paul, Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota, was originally called Pig's Eye after a man named
Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant who set up the first business there.
Roads
Chances that a road is unpaved in the U.S.A.: 1%, in Canada: 75%
Texas
The deepest hole ever made in the world is in Texas. It is as deep as 20
empire state buildings but only 3 inches wide.
United States
The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one-mile in every five must
be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war
or other emergencies.
Waterfalls
The water of Angel Falls (the World's highest) in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet
(979 meters). They are 15 Times higher than Niagara Falls.
|
|
Updated: May 21, 2009
