These Are The Most Distant Objects We’ve Ever Discovered In The Universe
“For planets of any type, the quasar RX J1131-1231, lensed by rogue planets, holds the record: 3.9 billion light-years distant. The most distant normal star is known as Icarus, 9 billion light-years away, lensed and magnified by a massive galaxy cluster. 23 billion light-years away is the most distant supernova ever seen: SN 1000+0216.”
Our quest to learn about the Universe is a quest of ever-receding horizons. From planets, moons, and other objects in our Solar System to stars, galaxies, quasars, and gamma-ray bursts, we just keep shattering records as far distance goes. Improvements in technology, technique, and increased observing time allow us to reveal things that simply couldn’t be observed previously. Yet we’re by no means done, just because we’ve set a slew of new records in the opening two decades of the 21st century. With the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the hope of a Planet Nine, and the advent of 30-meter-class astronomy from the ground, the records we know and adore today may all be in the rear-view mirror just a few years from now.
This image of Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot and surrounding turbulent zones was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The color-enhanced image is a combination of three separate images taken on April 1, as Juno performed its 12th close flyby of Jupiter.[1653 x 1080]
This image of Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot and surrounding turbulent zones was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The color-enhanced image is a combination of three separate images taken on April 1, as Juno performed its 12th close flyby of Jupiter.[1653 x 1080]
The inclusions of grey metallic haematite (an iron oxide, see http://tinyurl.com/nngtpnh) are overgrown with needles of rutile (a titanium oxide) in a gemmy quartz. The planes of rutile needles are oriented with the crystallographic growth of the quartz to produce a hexagonal pattern, revealed to great advantage in this freeform carved gem.
