Is There Anybody Out There?: Billion-Pixel Space Camera To Discover 10 Planets A Day

Seen here in an artist's rendition (mine -- I'm an artist) of exactly what it'll look like when while in orbit, the European Space Agency's Gaia Spacecraft will rock a 106-CCD sensor, 1-billion pixel "camera" that's over three feet wide (like my ass!) in order to create a 3-D map of the universe. Mass Effect galaxy map or GTFO.

Along the way, it's expected to detect (on average) 250 quasars, 30 brown dwarfs, 10 stars with planets orbiting them, and 10 stars exploding in other galaxies - every day.

The resulting imaging system is so powerful that it will be able to precisely measure the width of a hair from over 600 miles away, and from here on Earth, it could spot a dime on the moon.

OMG please tell me they didn't build this thing just to spot a lost dime on the moon. IT'S TEN CENTS BRO, LET IT GO. Just sayin', I don't bend over for anything less than a quarter. Or a spanking. I'M KINKY AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS.

Spacecraft's billion-pixel camera to spot 10 new planets per day [dvice]

Thanks to Clark, who's hoping for at least one shot of two aliens doing it in a flying saucer.

• Mmmm, That's Milky: 648 Megapixel Milky Way

  November 2, 2009

  This is a 648 megapixel composite (higher-res version HERE) of the Milky Way created by physicist (and all around badass) Axel Mellinger. Good lookin', Axel. Physicist Axel Mellinger spent nearly two years traveling 26,000 miles across South Africa, Texas and Michigan. What... / Continue →
• Neil deGrasse Tyson's Most Amazing Fact In Universe

  March 6, 2012

  Now I know what you're thinking, and no, you can't steal this photo to use as your new dating website profile pic. It just wouldn't be fair to Neil. This is a video (well, audio with some graphics on top) of famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson sharing what he thinks is t... / Continue →
• WE'RE NOT ALONE: All The Alien Planets Found By NASA's Kepler Space Probe

  April 5, 2011

  Note: Larger version HERE in case you're convinced if you just zoom in you might spot an alien. This is a shot depicting all 1,235 potential alien planets located by the Kepler space probe to date. The planets are actually just the tiny black dots though, the big balls are th... / Continue →