The sharpest image ever taken of the spiral galaxy M81

I agree with the one poster.... if you can get pictures that great there is no reason we don't have a camera that get's pictures of the Moon/Mars that are that great.

Only shows me how stupid NASA takes us to be.



[edit on 4-12-2007 by observe50]

Awesome picture OP, thanks so much for making my day. And that's just one galaxy out of thousands out there. People can say there has to be life out there or there isn't, but one thing for sure is that we have so much more to learn about the universe and what's in it. Until we solve the mystery of the universe we can only look at it's beauty and awe.

I think if we point the Hubble Telescope at our moon we'd just get a blur wouldn't we? I don't really know. Plus, to see the flag and moon buggies would be impossible since they're so small. I could be wrong about that.

Thanks again for the wonderful picture OP. Star Flagged

reply to post by greeneyedleo


Looks like another galaxy to me with some sort of funnel appendage. Maybe a black hole?

[edit] Ok, it's a pair of galaxies. I should have read the following replies. Sorry.

[edit on 4-12-2007 by Areal51]

The 689 mb file took me three goes to download,due to my incredibly annoying net connection which goes off for a few seconds every few hours...
But it really was worth the wait.
I have been zooming around the image with my jaw hanging for two hours on and off.
Its awesome,Thanks again Enceladus,great find.
I am trying to convert the image into a format which will run on my bro's PS3(because he's got a huge plasma TV lucky tike).
But my computer is having trouble converting the mammoth image...so I may have to lug the whole thing to my bro's---I WILL see it on a big screen!!
I may see if my local printers have got the balls at having a go printing out the image,full size for my wall.
Nice one.

And even if they're thick as fleas, just because there's a nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere and some water and ice doesn't mean life is guaranteed on them, because we don't even know how life started on this planet. It might have been an incredible crap shoot that won't happen again for another 100 billion years, if ever.

lol a very pesemistic point of view. If we ever find an earth size planet in an earth like orbit around a G type star like sol then analyse its spectographic signature IF it were to return results identical to earth i think its very likely conditions on that planet would be similar including life.

by the time TFP/darwin launches hopefully we will have identified biomarkers in the atmosphere which we can say definitley indicates life on such a planet. Research is still ongoing on this subject.

also we know of no other mechinism other than life that gives a biosphere like earth thats to say a constant supply of oxygen over billions of years. Earth stands out a mile compared to evry other planet in our solar system. Completely diffirent from anything else we see.

[edit on 4-12-2007 by yeti101]

This is simply aweinspiring!! To think about the possibilitied of life... unreal

Originally posted by yeti101
also we know of no other mechinism other than life that gives a biosphere like earth thats to say a constant supply of oxygen over billions of years. Earth stands out a mile compared to evry other planet in our solar system. Completely diffirent from anything else we see.

We'll just have to see. Such an atmosphere would certainly be suggestive of life, but until life was actually discovered there, other explanations, are still possible. Discovery of life would clinch it. Maybe it's pessimistic, but as we continue to send out probes out into space, and continue to not find life, the notion that we might be the only game in town becomes more likely. If life is not rare, then by known celestial mechanics it would tend to spread everywhere, and relatively fast, and we'd have easier evidence of it. And at the moment, we have none.

I don't have anything against there being life out there. I only think that assuming there is life out there is unwarranted at this point, and certainly not indicated by the currently available data.

Originally posted by Silcone Synapse
I may see if my local printers have got the balls at having a go printing out the image,full size for my wall.

That's what I'm sayin!! The ultramegasuperuberhi-res image is completely wasted on a computer screen. I've been dabbling with the idea of printing wall-sized Moon shots (possibly the Lear photos) and turning my office into a Moonscape, curtains and all, but pictures like this are conflicting with that agenda.

If life is not rare, then by known celestial mechanics it would tend to spread everywhere, and relatively fast, and we'd have easier evidence of it

intelligent life maybe but its important to say i diffirentiate between microbial,advanced and intelligent life, there could be millions of earth type biospheres with advanced life like plants & animals but none may have an intelligent species like us.

[edit on 4-12-2007 by yeti101]

reply to post by apc


I was wondering if anyone has the means to hook their computer up to their big screen TV and view it?

Im waiting on my new laptop to get here...then I may try and do that (as my TV has the capability)...Id love to see it REALLY big!

[edit on 4-12-2007 by greeneyedleo]

Words can't describe how beautiful that picture is.

I wish there were a way for me to go there. Just imagine all the wonders that must lie on the billions upon billions of worlds that exist in that galaxy. It's mindboggling to imagine the infinite possibilities in that galaxy alone, and that gigantic galaxy is nothing but a pin prick in the Universe itself.

reply to post by FreeThinkerIdealist


beautifly spoken!

is this all I have to do as to not make a one line post and not

to have points stricken from me? Mods should focus more on actually "moderating" these forums so we don't have to read the same crap, than worrying about one liners.

Originally posted by Raabjorn
Great picture, thanks for posting.

Now I have some questions thought. We are looking at billions of stars in this galaxy, millions that could potentially have life harboring planets orbiting around them.

If the universe have such high amount of life in it. Then why isn't SETI antennas picking up any signals from extra terrestrial intelligence?

Is it because we don't know what frequencies to cover? No one sending signals this way? Maybe everyone is listening only? Is there a scientific conclusions on the lack of SETIs success yet?

[edit on 4-12-2007 by Raabjorn]

My thoughts of why we haven't detected anything is akin to using sign language to communicate with a blind man. Assuming that "they" would use microwaves would be assuming that "they" are exactly like us, and followed the same path of technology that we did. Highly unlikely, IMO. I just don't believe that there is one universal template for life or technology.

There are a sea of radio waves zipping by my head right now that I wouldn't even know existed if not for the right instrument (radio) used in the right way (tuned to a frequency). I think the same is very possible for ET signals. They could be raining down on Earth right now, but we're not using the right instrument in the right way to hear them. Therefor, we have no idea they even exist.

Just my opinion, naturally.

A quick note on the OP, that's a truly magestic photograph.

And the mind-blowing thing is, in that one photograph of that one galaxy, the amount of visible stars are endless (not to mention the countless others masked by haze). We can only assume that the vast majority of those stars anchor planetary solar systems. The amount of stars and presumed planets in that photo is unimaginable. ..... And that galaxy is just one of BILLIONS and BILLIONS of galaxies. It's mind-numbing to think about.

Heres some cool stuff I found, and a better view of the quasar
You could look for stuff there for ages, but my attention span isn't that great.










and omg.....

TOby, what program did you use to view this picture, it takes forever on my computer.

Just photoshop cs2,
but don't think it was instant for me
Speed with those pics relies on cpu speed, and decent ram.
I THINK mostly cpu speed though.
But once it was open it was fairly viewable. Just loading is a pain in the ass.

Originally posted by T0by
Just photoshop cs2,
but don't think it was instant for me

Speed with those pics relies on cpu speed, and decent ram.
I THINK mostly cpu speed though.
But once it was open it was fairly viewable. Just loading is a pain in the ass.

Dont worry Ive got good cpu and ram for sure
Probably need photoshop.

All I can say is wow, this really makes me like feel tiny human being. Also I tried to have this as my desktop wallpaper, BAD IDEA! It eats your video ram like its none thing and slowdown startup! Even with the small 6mb picture!

Not to get off subject and to prove my wallpaper point,
I have a 1GB of ram with a 512mb Nvidia videocard.

Originally posted by Files
All I can say is wow, this really makes me like feel tiny human being. Also I tried to have this as my desktop wallpaper, BAD IDEA! It eats your video ram like its none thing and slowdown startup! Even with the small 6mb picture!

Not to get off subject and to prove my wallpaper point,
I have a 1GB of ram with a 512mb Nvidia videocard.

When I opened the 690mb one it was taking like over 1gb memory usage!!
Crazy.