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2007: A Space Odyssey

By sheril on December 19, 2007.

Long ago, before I wandered through tidepools and discovered the majestic sea cucumber, I wanted to be an astrobiologist.

To this day, little captures my imagination and attention so intently as the study of space. And I know I'm not alone... From Carl Sagan to George Lucas, most everyone seems just as completely fascinated about understanding the great, infinite beyond... collectively wondering about our place in the galaxy on this pale blue dot.

I came across this image in yesterday's Science Times and you can bet I was excited... What you see is a jet of energy shooting out of a galaxy and hitting its neighbor before splattering into space.

i-3e9f4a429ab67e48dc65a2ef3e2a9194-blackhole_650.1.jpg

The galaxies, with the collective name 3C321, orbit each other about 20,000 light-years apart in the constellation Serpens. Each is thought to harbor a supermassive black hole at its center, where gravity, pressure and unworldly magnetic fields squeeze matter and energy out into space like toothpaste from a tube.

Supermassive black holes? Unwordly magnetic fields? How cool is that?!

So while I do love marine biology, images like this remind me I still want to be an astronaut when I grow up.

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Sexed Up Science

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I may also be a marine biologist with a dream of being an astronaut, but let's face it: who wants to grow up? Not me! :) I don't think astronauts "Grow up", which is why they're astronauts. When people "Grow up" they go and get an MBA :)

Your unyielding curiosity and sense of wonder with life always separates you from most. That's what part of makes your writings so interesting.

Hey Sheril,

Glad to read that you liked this. If you're interested to learn more, I did a long post about this and black holes in general over on Correlations. Have a look!

Best,

-cvj