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Larry the Engineer
@engineerlarry.bsky.social
2.2K followers 78 following 2.1K posts
Husband, Father, 62 y.o.
Dog lover, Cat lover, stroke survivor
B.S.Mech.Engineer, UArk, 1989
Private Pilot
Retired Engineer
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Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Cassini ISS Titan Mosaic & Topography: Southern Hemisphere (USGS/Ian Regan/P.Corlies et al.) - From Ian Regan - https://flic.kr/p/Kg9Mdn
Updated, amended, and restored version of the 2013 USGS Titan photomosaic, blended with SAR-derived topographical data (2017). Photomosaic Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute/Cassini Data Analysis Program/USGS Astrogeology Science Center/Ian Regan For more details on the restoration: www.insaturnsrings.com/titan-seam-blending ----------------------------- Color-coded topography credit: P. Corlies, S. P. D. Birch, A. G. Hayes, R. Lorenz, B. Stiles, R. L. Kirk, V. Poggiali, the Casssini RADAR Team. www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2017/pdf/2703.pdf
December 2, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
The Magnificent Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104) - From Rolf Wahl Olsen - https://flic.kr/p/xtDtKg
This large and bright globular star cluster is the 2nd brightest as seen from Earth, only surpassed by the massive Omega Centauri. Both clusters are Southern Hemisphere objects and are easily visible with the naked eye. Of the two I personally consider 47 Tucanae to the be most impressive because of its extremely dense and bright core region which is a spectacle to behold, both visually through the eyepiece and photographically as in this image. 47 Tucanae is located around 17,000 light years away in the direction of the Southern constellation Tucana (The Toucan) and appears very close to the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of the two prominent satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. The cluster spans an angular diameter larger than the full Moon and is one of the most massive globular clusters, home to millions of individual stars contained within its physical diameter of 120 light years. The cluster consists mainly of old red giant stars with a few very conspicuous blue stars strewn across the field. These are 'Blue Stragglers', stars that are too hot and massive to fit the cluster's otherwise old age. Given the ancient origin of the cluster these stars should by now have turned into red giants but it has been proposed that they are the results of mergers and mass transfers in the crowded environment of globular clusters. A main sequence star can exist for billions of years in the cluster and then at some point in time gain mass from a close orbiting binary, or as a result o...
December 2, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Nebulosa del Velo, NGC 6992 - From Ángel López-Sánchez - https://flic.kr/p/BKSuP
La Nebulosa del Velo, NGC 6992, es una nebulosa clasificada como resto de supernova. En realidad, la imagen (de tamaño 20 x 10 minutos de arco) sólo muestra una pequeña parte de toda la nebulosa. Los colores representan el filtro B (azul), la famosa emisión de [O III] (verde) y la emisión de Hidrógeno-alfa, Ha (rojo). Esta imagen, realizada por Jorge García Rojas y un servidor de ustedes, es una combinación de 2 campos usando la antigua CCD del telescopio IAC-80. En realidad, es una prueba que hicimos en el mismo telescopio justo antes del amanecer, en verano de 2004. Ahora nuestras imágenes están mucho más curradas :D
December 2, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Above and Below Titan's Atmosphere - From Val Klavans (valklavans.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/ebDDSw
On the left is a true color image of Titan. The moon's south polar vortex and north polar hood are visible in this view. The image on the right is a representation of what it would look like if you could see past Titan's atmosphere and down to its surface. The darker areas are vast hydrocarbon sand dunes. Both images were taken by Cassini's camera system, the Imaging Science Subsystem on April 13, 2013, as it was observing Titan’s sub-Saturn hemisphere and looking for clouds in its atmosphere. These images were taken on April 13, 2013 and received on Earth April 14, 2013. The camera was pointing toward TITAN at approximately 1,117,489 miles (1,798,425 kilometers) away, and the images were taken using the BL1, GRN, RED, CB3, CL1 and CL2 filters. Credit: NASA / JPL / SSI / composite & editing by Val Klavans
December 1, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Comparison of Details with ESO (VLT) and Hubble Space Telescope Images - From Rolf Wahl Olsen - https://flic.kr/p/ooAjko
This image is a comparison of details in core and tidal tail regions of the Antennae Galaxies Extreme Deep Field - 75 Hours with ESO (VLT) and Hubble Space Telescope Images Tidal Streams The iconic features of these two interacting galaxies are the two long tidal streams expelled by the collision of the galaxies. The long upper (Southern) stream seems to actually be a loop and a very faint portion of the material appears falling back towards the galaxies. Along this stream several brighter blue knots can be found, culminating in the large extended clump at its end. These knots are composed of young hot blue stars, likely triggered by the violent forces induced by the collision. The shorter lower (Northern) stream extends into a large faint fan shape with a little curl up towards the right. Core Area The main action is happening in the centre where intense starburst activity has been triggered by the merging of the two galaxies. Bright blue arcs of hot young O and B type stars light up the core area, together with the distinct magenta hue from massive glowing hydrogen nebulae. The two galaxy nuclei can still be seen separately, with nebulae, star streams and dark dust bands circling around them in a chaotic dance.
December 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Ganymede 1996-06-26 - From Gordan Ugarković (ugordan.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/7nm8GL
Galileo spacecraft image. Bottom portion of image uses 1/2 resolution gapfill using synthetic red channel data.
December 1, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Conjunción Venus, Luna, Saturno y Régulo - From Ángel López-Sánchez - https://flic.kr/p/2kc47T
Entre los árboles australianos. Los cables pertenecen a la calle "Epping Road" que pasa debajo...
November 30, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
ESP_013958_1170 - From UAHiRISE (NASA) (uahirise.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/dZ3Zex
November 30, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Close-up with the Rosette Nebula (Narrowband Colour) - From Rolf Wahl Olsen - https://flic.kr/p/VuN7BQ
Visible here is a small portion of the large Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237), centered on its central cluster of stars; NGC 2244. This large round nebula lies some 5000 light years away and can be found in the constellation Monoceros near Orion. In optical wide field images the entire nebula appears strikingly similar to the petals of a red rose, hence the name. The image is constructed from exposures in three very narrow (3nm) wavelength bands corresponding to the emission profiles of ionised Hydrogen, Oxygen and Sulphur to form the resulting detailed and brightly coloured scene. Several striking shapes can be seen here, many of which resemble animals of various kinds. In particular the figure of a leaping Cheetah is very obvious near the centre. These dark shapes are denser clouds of dust and gas, slowly being eroded away by the intense ultraviolet radiation from the young stars in the central cluster. These stars have themselves condensed out of the nebula relatively recently. The brightest cluster members, HD 46223 and HD 46150, are massive O-type stars with stellar winds and radiation powerful enough to have cleared the nebula's central cavity around the cluster. Image details: Date: 15th, 16th, 18th and 19th March 2017 Exposure: Ha OIII SII: 290:130:110 mins, total 8 hours 50 mins @ -25C Telescope: Homebuilt 12.5" f/4 Serrurier Truss Newtonian Camera: QSI 683wsg with Lodestar guider Filters: Astrodon LRGB E-Series Gen 2 Taken from my observatory in Auckland, New Z...
November 30, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
NGC 4278 & 4283 - From Judy Schmidt (geckzilla.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/seMVB2
This is a five panel mosaic of a pair of elliptical galaxies: NGC 4283 on the left and NGC 4278 on the right. Many background galaxies are also visible. In general, the fuzzier, more extended ones are background galaxies while the sharper, more point-like ones are globular clusters encircling NGC 4278. Interloping Milky Way stars are largely absent, but I think I see a few very dim ones. There were some Chandra observations of NGC 4278 showing that several of the globular clusters are glowing in X-rays. chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2010/type1a/ (Yes, that's Andromeda. The picture of NGC 4283 can be found in the right side column) The blank corners are the edges of the fields where no data is available. Not too bad except for the upper left where it is extra noticeable next to NGC 4283. Chip gaps were filled with cloned data. Two HST proposals related to this image are available: Probing The Globular Cluster / Low Mass X-ray Binary Connection in Early-type Galaxies At Low X-ray Luminosities Probing The Globular Cluster / Low Mass X-ray Binary Connection in Early-type Galaxies At Low X-ray Luminosities Yes, they both have the same title. The second finished up where the first left off. I think it got interrupted by the ACS's electrical problems. Good to be able to pick back up afterward thanks to some nice astronauts. You can see the noise stripes in the upper left field which started appearing after the mission which repaired the ACS. All the others were taken prior to Ser...
November 30, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
NASA Ocean Data Shows ‘Climate Dance’ of Plankton - From Goddard Space Flight Center - https://flic.kr/p/paP1hE
The greens and blues of the ocean color from NASA satellite data have provided new insights into how climate and ecosystem processes affect the growth cycles of phytoplankton—microscopic aquatic plants important for fish populations and Earth’s carbon cycle. At the bottom of the ocean’s food chain, phytoplankton account for roughly half of the net photosynthesis on Earth. Their photosynthesis consumes carbon dioxide and plays a key role in transferring carbon from the atmosphere to the ocean. Unlike the plant ecosystems on land, the amount of phytoplankton in the ocean is always followed closely by the abundance of organisms that eat phytoplankton, creating a perpetual dance between predators and prey. This new analysis shows how tiny imbalances in this predator-prey relationship, caused by environmental variability, give rise to massive phytoplankton blooms, having huge impacts on ocean productivity, fisheries and carbon cycling. The study was released Thursday, Sept. 25, in the journal Nature Climate Change. “The continuous year-in and year-out measurements provided by NASA’s ocean color satellites have dramatically changed our understanding of phytoplankton dynamics on the Earth,” said Mike Behrenfeld, author of the study and phytoplankton ecologist at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon. “What we now see is a closely linked system of phytoplankton cell division and consumption lying at the heart of the plant’s annual cycle.” Behrenfeld calls this close predato...
November 30, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Distant Titan Observation - From Val Klavans (valklavans.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/dY4KxA
This is an RGB color composite of Titan, taken on February 22, 2013 by Cassini's Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) in three filters: red, green & blue. During this distant observation of Titan, ISS rode along with the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) to be monitor clouds across Titan's southern trailing and sub-Saturn hemispheres. (Information from CICLOPS: www.ciclops.org/view/7563/Rev182) These images were taken on February 22, 2013 and received on Earth February 23, 2013. The camera was pointing toward TITAN at approximately 984,440 miles (1,584,302 kilometers) away, and the images were taken using the RED, GRN, BL1, CL1 and CL2 filters. Credit: NASA / JPL / SSI / composite by Val Klavans
November 30, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko - Rosetta - From Aster Cowart (terrasabaea.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/FWXDoV
Four-frame Rosetta OSIRIS NAC mosaic of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on October 14, 2014. These images were acquired through the NAC's Orange filter. At the time these images were taken, Rosetta was located about 11 km from the comet's nucleus. Image Credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS / OSIRIS Team / Justin Cowart OSIRIS Team: MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA
November 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy - From Ryan Kinnett (rkinnett.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2m5ZwDr
M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy in LRGB. Approx. 1.5 hours integration with C9.25 at f/6.3, asi1600mm and ZWO filters.
November 30, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Arp 143 (color) - From Judy Schmidt (geckzilla.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2iSFXid
Color version. Not sure I'm happy with it. Always looks weird when ground-based data are used to colorize HST data. Copy-pasta from grayscale image description: Well, it's been a while since I did a Prop15446 galaxy. This one was PI Julianne Dalcanton's favorite, so of course I had to. Featured are two interacting galaxies, one clearly full of star formation and dust with the other one smooth and not apparently doing much beyond participating in the interaction. The clumpy, dusty star-forming galaxy, perhaps once a spiral, now visibly being pulled into the smooth galaxy. Establishing HST's Low Redshift Archive of Interacting Systems Luminosity: ACS/WFC F606W Red: PANSTARRS r Green: PANSTARRS g Blue: SDSS u North is 8.21° clockwise from up.
November 29, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Trazas estelares bajo la luna en ATCA - From Ángel López-Sánchez - https://flic.kr/p/4xPUTB
Exposición de unos 10 minutos del cielo del Hemisferio Sur, cercano al Polo Sur Celeste (se aprecian claramente la Vía Láctea, Alfa y Beta Centauro y la Cruz del Sur con el Saco de Carbón), teniendo en primer plano a la Antena 1 del interferómetro ATCA (Narrabri, NSW, Australia).
November 29, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Saturn-W00066791-Mar-08-RAW - From Ian Regan - https://flic.kr/p/9qCzo1
Storm on Saturn
November 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Marsrover Perseverance Navcam Sol 592 - From Simeon Schmauß (stim3on.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2qJyP36
This panorama was taken by the right Navcam of the NASA Perseverance rover in the afternoon of Sol 592 (October 20, 2022). It shows the rover during a global dust storm that tints the sky a pale reddish color. Better viewer: www.360cities.net/image/marsrover-perseverance-navcam-sol... Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Simeon Schmauß
November 29, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Saturn - From Gordan Ugarković (ugordan.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/8FBpk9
TBD. W1635131664
November 29, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Earth & Moon, full animation - 17 years ago - From Gordan Ugarković (ugordan.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/7pbLC2
54 color frames animated showing the Earth-Moon conjunction as seen from the receding Galileo spacecraft on 16/17 Dec 1992. At the start, Galileo is 6.15 million km from the Earth. That increased to 6.58 million km at the end. Since the Moon orbits the Earth at less than 400 thousand km, that makes it only 6% closer to Galileo in this sequence. As a result, the sequence is a pretty good comparison of relative Earth-Moon sizes. Click [Actions -> View all sizes -> original] to animate (8 MB). An interpolated AVI video can be found here (4 MB).
November 29, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
stvie.bsky.social
Magic loves looking out a dreary window. #catpics #cats #catsofbluesky #blueskycats #blackcats
November 28, 2025 at 10:40 PM
engineerlarry.bsky.social
#catpics #catsofbluesky
Magik Omen
November 28, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
The Vastness of the Dunes - From UAHiRISE (NASA) (uahirise.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2rC2F1c
This impressive observation is near the North Pole of Mars, in a region known as Vastitas Borealis. Our rationale for this observation is to monitor for any seasonal changes. Image cutout is less than 1 km (under 1 mi) top to bottom with North to the right and the spacecraft altitude was 318 km (197 mi). For full observation details including images with scale bars, visit the source link. www.uahirise.org/ESP_076448_2530 NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
November 27, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
AM 0347-442 - From Judy Schmidt (geckzilla.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2g5BZFF
An irregular dwarf galaxy for today. It's kind of faint, and a bit difficult to brighten sufficiently above the noise floor, but now that I've done it I see a bit of star formation going on. I don't know why I just don't expect to see star formation in these galaxies, but it's almost always happening. Data from the following proposal is used to create this image: Establishing HST's Low Redshift Archive of Interacting Systems All channels: ACS/WFC F606W North is 12.44° counter-clockwise from up.
November 27, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Larry the Engineer
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Perseverance Parachute Uplook Camera A - From Simeon Schmauß (stim3on.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2qMq1hb
Instrument: PARACHUTE UPLOOK CAMERA A EAE_0000_0666952761_962EDR_N0000000EDLC00020_0000LUJ01 LMST: Sol-00000M15:50:28.80543 Start time: 2021-02-18 20:40:52 UTC Height above ellipsoid: 10166 m Height above landing: 12402 m Speed: 1518 km/h This image was processed to approximate the colors that the human eye would see. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Simeon Schmauß CC BY
November 27, 2025 at 12:00 PM