http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/multimedia/ero/index.html

QuoteNASAs Hubble Space Telescope is back in business after astronauts refurbished it in May. These first snapshots from Hubble showcase the 19-year-old telescopes new vision.

Truly breathtaking imagery, be sure to click for the full size images. It makes me feel very insignificant.

#8 is truly mind expanding.

Following on from another thread elsewhere on the forums does anyone else find it comforting when they see pictures like this? The notion that we really are insignificant in the grand scheme of things and that nothing we do has any real bearing on the universe makes me quite happy for some reason.

I love the idea that we are just a pointless blip, the universe didnt care before we arrived and it certainly wont care when were gone.

I actually find #1 the most awesome, just because ones like #8 and #3 just look busy, in the sense of being a bit overwhelming and incomprehensible, so much of the image is lost to me, the same effect could be achieved with a shot of fireworks or a pan of sand, too many things in the image, where do you look etc. However yes, there is the fact of the scale of these things.

Which in terms of #1, its less overwhelming as theres a clear subject, and then when you consider the subjects size, I find that truly mind expanding as the scale of it is slightly more within my mental grasp.

As to the whole comfort thing, I dont think I find it comforting one way or the other. The one thing I find discomforting are certain aspects of climate change, but I wont go into that as its totally Off-Topic.

The thing I find most mind expanding is the extent in time were looking at.

Yes the physical scale is amazing, I take nothing away from that, but just consider for a second:

The Andromeda galaxy is just about our closest galactic neighbour, and yet when the light photons which will strike the earth tonight left their stars the genus Homo had only just appeared on earth with these guys:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_habilis

I find that truely staggering, and of course its many times more so when you consider the really distant objects pictured by Hubble.

Good point Mongoose, and one I hadnt fully considered when thinking about some of these literally astronomical distances.

It really does put the blip of humanity into perspective and on the back of it I really dont see how people can refute the possibilities of life or, to a lesser degree, advanced life elsewhere in the universe.

I can take pictures like that    :mutley:

I like nr. 4,   5  galaxies in one shot  I mean we live in one galaxy and it is quite big.

Quote from: Chris H#8 is truly mind expanding.

Following on from another thread elsewhere on the forums does anyone else find it comforting when they see pictures like this? The notion that we really are insignificant in the grand scheme of things and that nothing we do has any real bearing on the universe makes me quite happy for some reason.

I love the idea that we are just a pointless blip, the universe didnt care before we arrived and it certainly wont care when were gone.

This was the exact thing that I said actually filled me a sense of doom. The numbers involved and the % chance of something such as us existing are just mind boggling and the fact we know relatively little about everything is just plain terrifying.

I take comfort in the physics that say we are so far from everything and they just couldnt get here to nuke us.  8-)

Quote from: Chris HI love the idea that we are just a pointless blip, the universe didnt care before we arrived and it certainly wont care when were gone.

Just as Manhattan states on Mars: "How would this world be improved by houses or a shopping mall?" "In my opinion, the existence of life is a highly overrated phenomenon."

We are the means for our Universe to know itself, only our Universe doesnt care.

If you like stuff like this check out galaxyzoo.org - lots of boring stuff on the actual thing but theres some cool stuff in their forums.

On iplayer, BBC Four

Now: Hubble Telescope 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Worth watching, im catching the last 30 mins