[url=http://heritage.stsci.edu/gallery/gallery.html]Hubble Gallery[/url]

[img]http://heritage.stsci.edu/2001/05/mz3/0105b.jpg[/img]

nothing but a deep silence...

very nice

Very nice gallery, thanks for the link.

I just finished an intro astrophysics class yesterday...and I think everyone should take one at some point in their life.  If nothing else it helps you to learn the relative sizes of things.  Everyone should make a small effort to learn about our universe.






edit:   [shock]
[img]http://heritage.stsci.edu/2001/33/Omegacentauri/0133b.jpg[/img]


Now that's a globular cluster.


In case anyone is interested in using high res versions of these for a desktop background, I found by accident that if you remove the letter from the end of the filename (right before the .jpg) you get a very large image...bigger than the ones they allow you to zoom to on their page.

Kinda makes you feel pointless and insignificant huh?

No, it makes me feel humbled and yet especially blessed to be witness to just a miniscule glimpse at the incredible artistry, beauty, magnificence, intelligence and incomprehendible awe that is God through His creation.

It's a sobering combination of humility, reverence, inspiration and clarity in the knowledge that God exists and is the creator of such a vast and beautiful universe and that I am a part of his creation.

If I thought there was no God, then yes I suppose, compared to these images, I might feel pointless in the universe and I might also see other people as nothing more than insignificant, pointless globs of nothingness too compared to these images.

But knowing that God exists, what becomes pointless is the pettiness, selfishness, fear, and pride that poisons my life and keeps me from seeing in everyday people the brilliance of God's creation that I see so clearly in these images.

[img]http://www-cgi.cnn.com/US/9602/whitewater/07/hubbell.jpg[/img]

Clinton associate and felon Webster Hubbell.

Yep !

Thanks for the link.  It's very impressive.

...I wish I KNEW god exhists,but he must theres like jews,muslims,christians,catholics,hindu's,buddaists,Cow worshipers,sunworshipers,and many others that 'NEED TO BELIEVE' he does in some way,shape,or form[rolleyes]maybe they were just brought up that way.

Amen...

PS.  There was a wonderful alignment of several planets above and below the crescent moon during the last few nights.  If you missed it you can catch it again around 2040.

Billions and Billions and Billions...

Carl Sagan voice.. We are all made of starstuff.

Part II:

Pointless and insignificant to whom?

To my two-year old son?
Absolutely not! My wife and I are INFINITELY more significant to him (and he to us) than ANY inanimate nebula or galaxy 3 jillion LY away.

To my friends, coworkers, neighbors and fellow Americans?
Hardly! I matter MUCH more to them than some insignificant mass of hydrogen and helium in another galaxy that has NO concievable effect on their existance.

In fact, according to one theory of quantum mechanics, these amazing galaxies don't even exist until [b]WE[/b] observe them. They have no past, present or future UNTIL they are observed, and only at that instant their entire history is instantly created into existance by our observation.

So in these respects, I feel even MORE significant, to my family & friends AND to these awe-inspiring spectacles of creation, compared to which I have an even greater responsibility and thus greater significance in God's universe (or even in the "godless" universe of quantum mechanics).

Truthfully, I feel sorry for those who look upon the immenseness and beauty of creation and see only themselves shrinking into insignificance regardless of whether or not they believe in God.

For those who believe beholding a small piece of the brilliant splendor and beauty of an incomprehensible universe instills a feeling of pointlessness and insignificance I ask - pointless and insignificant to whom?

From what I've read, most of these outer space pictures are artificially colerized and don't actually look like that when viewed through a telecope, is that correct?

Nice Pics

Some one please post this picture next to a picture of Chelsea Clinton!

This looks like the muzzle blast from an AR with the AK brake on it! [:D]
God likes AK brakes too! [:D]

GREAT pictures !

Heh.  I actually wrote a piece of dialogue on that subject in a short story:

[:|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quoted:
Kinda makes you feel pointless and insignificant huh?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



No, it makes me feel humbled and yet especially blessed to be witness to just a miniscule glimpse at the incredible artistry, beauty, magnificence, intelligence and incomprehendible awe that is God through His creation.

It's a sobering combination of humility, reverence, inspiration and clarity in the knowledge that God exists and is the creator of such a vast and beautiful universe and that I am a part of his creation.

If I thought there was no God, then yes I suppose, compared to these images, I might feel pointless in the universe and I might also see other people as nothing more than insignificant, pointless globs of nothingness too compared to these images.

But knowing that God exists, what becomes pointless is the pettiness, selfishness, fear, and pride that poisons my life and keeps me from seeing in everyday people the brilliance of God's creation that I see so clearly in these images.

Another Amen

Not to nitpick, but I would hardly call that a theory of quantum mechanics.  You are speaking merely of a philosophical interpretation of one aspect of quantum mechanics.  One which is worthless, the same way "if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound" is worthless.

Other than that I agree with you.

Most everything is colorized, yes.  But everything you see in the pictures is really there.  The observed structure really exists.  Look at the picture of the globular cluster I posted above--not much coloring needed there.  Luminous nebulae (usually red) look about right in the pictures as well.  Even most galaxies aren't too far off.  It's when you see things like star formation regions (dense molecular clouds) that the false color really comes into play.

  HERE HERE. That is excatly it!!  To truly be apart of something much larger than ones self.

[b]"My God, Its full of Stars."[/b]

[img]http://kubrickfilms.warnerbros.com/images/Video_Detail_2001_keyart.gif[/img]

Agreed. Better that I said one "interpretation" derived from quantum mechanics.

"Worthless"? That's a bit harsh.

[:D]  Yea, maybe a little harsh.  I've had little patience for those "nothing exists until we observe it" arguments since my first year at this university, when I had to spend 8 months in a dorm with a philosophy major that also happened to be a cocaine dealer. [pissed]  That idea violates everything I believe about science.

So how did you get the DA to drop the murder charges??[:D]