seen the sombrero galaxy? real nasa picture

[sdowney717]

http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_photos/astronomy/sombrero_nasa1.jpg

[Dr Small]

I wonder how NASA gets such detailed and colorful pictures... Photoshop is probably just a simple thing compared to the photo editing software they probably have.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Here's a nice link with high res:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050511.html

Note that that image is in infrared, of course.
Here's another one:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_283.html

[acelin]

I wonder how NASA gets such detailed and colorful pictures... Photoshop is probably just a simple thing compared to the photo editing software they probably have.

They dont asmuch sa one might think... it's just really fancy photography. Long light exposures, layering images, etc etc...

[smoker]

great pics, would love to visit one day. deserves a better name though, imo :-)

[Dixon Bainbridge]

I wonder how NASA gets such detailed and colorful pictures... Photoshop is probably just a simple thing compared to the photo editing software they probably have.

They are multi-exposure, multi-layered timed exposures taken over a long period of time, then stitched together and colour treated/enhanced. Most of NASA's photography is infrared and colour tinted afterwards.

[Sealbhach]

Would like to fly through it, would probably take thousands of years though, even at (close to) light speed.


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[bruce89]

Would like to fly through it, would probably take thousands of years though, even at (close to) light speed.

You should try Celestia (apt:celestia-gnome) then.

[Lux Perpetua]

Would like to fly through it, would probably take thousands of years though, even at (close to) light speed.It would take 50,000 years, traveling at the speed of light.

The enormity of a galaxy is near-incomprehensible, and to think that there are billions of these things!

[Sealbhach]

You should try Celestia (apt:celestia-gnome) then.

Yes, I've used that, it's magnifico. Flew away and looked back to see how Andromeda and the Milky Way are sister galaxies.... great piece of work, Celestia is. I even added the Death Star and Tatooine and Endor.. hee hee.


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[Moustacha]

In that hi-res picture from one of those links, if you look at the background you can see so many more galaxies. It's crazy!

[Mr. Picklesworth]

In that hi-res picture from one of those links, if you look at the background you can see so many more galaxies. It's crazy!

That's what is really neat about Celestia, too; you can look back at Sol from one of those other galaxies. People say Google Earth makes them feel small :P