Earth in universe - local galactic group - Virgo supercluster

Where are we located within the Universe?

Our planet Earth is part of the solar system together with 7 other planets. Next, our Solar system is located within the Orion Arm of our Milky Way Galaxy.

Our Milky Way Galaxy together with M31 Andromeda Galaxy (2million ly away from us) and more then 30 other smaller galaxyes are part of the Local Galactic Group.

More then 100 kind of these local galactic groups form another group called the Virgo Supercluster.

Currently many of these superclusters are what we today call the Observable universe.

Source Wikipedia.

Record views

I uploaded this picture via twitter resulting in 2079 views, 8 retweets, 3 favorites and 12 link visits. Amazing how a picture can connect people. 

Observing the sun today

When weather allows and the sun will be shining Helios will be present in Mi Maan @herselt as part of the annual national sun observation day. We will be present as from 14h.

Noctilucent clouds

The picture was taken July 4th in the early morning @Averbode. This picture was made in RAW format with an exposure of 2s and ISO200. Editing using CS4 was  done to show more details.
The clouds are the highest one on earth we currently know and are located between 76 en 85km altitude. They consist of tiny ice crystals and dust and can only be seen when the sun is below the horizon. Best observation is during the summer months and at latitudes between 50° - 70°.

Noctilucent Cloud @ Averbode

Beautiful Noctilucent clouds above Averbode. About 15° above the horizon, North-North-East 4h15 AM  I could witness some beautiful noctlucent clouds. This was my first time I was able to see this.

On top you will also recognize the big dipper.

June Weather Data

June Weather data from Weatherstation WMR 200 edited by Wunderground.

See also WMR 200 Live data

Nothing happens in our universe...

Watch this youtube video and you will be amazed the universe is one big exploding area.

History of supernova detection