Space is vast – our own planet, which basically consists of everything most of us know, understand, and are familiar with, makes up a very tiny part of the entire universe.  In fact, the entire galaxy (the Milky Way Galaxy) makes up far less than 1% of the universe.  The sun, the biggest celestial body in our own solar system, is nothing compared to some of the largest celestial objects that exist.  That begs the question – what is the largest celestial object in outer space?

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Space Shuttle Discovery

Nasa announced on Friday that Space Shuttle Discovery was ready to launch on Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 4:50pm.  Sadly, this is the last flight of Discovery.

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Orion Nebula

Orion Nebula Image taken tonight using my Nikon D300.  ISO 2000 at 8.7 seconds at f/5.6

When the atmosphere of the sun explodes, an effect known as a solar flare occurs.  Solar flares are intense releases of energy, releasing huge amounts of energy in an instant.  Since Planet Earth relies on energy from the sun and is directly affected by the energy it produces,  instances of a sun flare explosion have a direct impact on Earth as well.  But how exactly do solar flares affect planet earth?

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NGC 1672

NGC 1672 is a barred spiral galaxy.  It can be found in the constellation Dorado – The Swordfish.  An interesting feature in NGC 1672 is a large bright bar that bisects it.  Read the rest of this entry >>