Europe's billion-star surveyor is ready for launch

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Europe's billion-star surveyor, Gaia, is due to be launched into space on Thursday 19 December 2013, where it will embark on its mission to create a highly accurate 3D map of our galaxy.

via Science Daily

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Powerful ancient explosions explain new class of supernovae

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Astronomers have discovered two of the brightest and most distant supernovae ever recorded, 10 billion light-years away and a hundred times more luminous than a normal supernova.

via Science Daily

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Gaia has ticket to ride

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ESA’s Gaia mission to survey a billion stars is ‘go’ for launch. The satellite has passed its final checks and is ready to be launched tomorrow from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou.

via ESA Space Science

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Gaia/Gaia_has_ticket_to_ride

Planet Mars Full Orange on Black Wrapping Paper

Present wrapping paper for citizens of Earth who adore the beauty awaiting them in the universe.

Planet Mars Full Orange on Black Wrapping Paper

tagged with: mars, planet, astronomy, sky, telescope, orange, black, planets, science, space, red

A full round view of the red planet Mars in stunning orange and black. Observed during its closest approach to Earth by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope. Perfect gift for astronomers, students, space buffs and anyone interested in science, astronomy or outer space.

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Click to see it bigger.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

Zany Dancers and Blue spot Alien - Happy Birthday! Gift Wrap

Get your out-of-this-world gift wrap here! Perfect for Christmas gifts for anyone who is fascinated by what the universe holds in store for us!

Zany Dancers and Blue spot Alien - Happy Birthday! Gift Wrap

tagged with: dancing motifs, dance motifs, dancers logo, happy birthday, pbslawt, blue-spotted, pink alien, trunk, antennae, outer space visitors

Just Fun series Fun birthday wrapping paper featuring bright, zany, exuberant dancers in a variety of colourful poses to brighten the mood :) With a blue-spotted alien with droopy antennae, you can change the text from Happy Birthday to what you want - even the person's name.
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»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this
Click to personalize with name and message - or just to see it bigger.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

The Rose Galaxies, Arp 273 Square Sticker

Here's a great sheet of stickers featuring a beautiful image from deep space

The Rose Galaxies, Arp 273 Square Sticker

tagged with: envelope sealers, trgarp, breathtaking hubble space photos, rose galaxy, interacting spiral galaxies, amazing astronomy images, arp 273, star forming activity, new born stars, star nursery, hot young stars

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series An amazing outer space picture featuring two interacting galaxies that together form the shape of a rose. The larger of the spiral galaxies, UGC 1810, has a disk that is twisted by the gravitational pull of its companion galaxy, UGC 1813.
Knots of young, hot blue stars bejewel the spirals arms in glistening starlight while below, its smaller, nearly edge-on companion is going through intense star formation at its centre, perhaps triggered by their encounter.

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image code: trgarp

Image credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this
Click to customize.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

J075141 and J174140: Doubling down with rare white dwarf systems

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In the middle of the twentieth century, an unusual star was spotted in the constellation of Canes Venatici (Latin for "hunting dogs"). Years later, astronomers determined that this object, dubbed AM Canum Venaticorum (or, AM CVn, for short), was, in fact, two stars. These stars revolve around each other every 18 minutes, and are predicted to generate gravitational waves—ripples in space-time predicted by Einstein.



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