stars

Space is an interesting place, but it can be hard to wrap your head around some of those out-of-this-world concepts. So what better way to learn facts about space than with GIFs? Here are six interesting and educational GIFs made from videos by Dr James O'Donoghue, a planetary scientist based at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Enjoy learning, space cadets. Want to learn more? Check out this article about how the new Mac Pro isn't good at grating cheese. 

Orion and his belt are one of the most recognizable constellations in the night sky. Seen around the world every day, it would be pretty obvious if something weird was going on, and that is exactly what casual observers and scientists alike have pounced on. Betelgeuse, one of the 10 brightest stars in the sky, has begun to dim, a common sign that a star is about to go supernova. So significant is the brightness of Betelgeuse that the entire view of the Orion constellation has shifted in its visibility. So what is happening in that corner of our night sky? Is this massive star going to be visible from space? History offers some insight. 

If GIF is mispronounced alone in the forest, does it make any sound? 

The answer is no, because GIFs don't make sound. If they do, it's a video, turn back. Or an alien, and turn back quicker.

And if you are not sure how to react to that last one, perhaps these reaction GIFs might help in that department, or these, or these or maybe even these. 

A group of international researchers and scientists have shed light on one of the central mysteries of solar physics: how energy and heat from the Sun is transferred to the Sun's upper atmosphere, heating it to more than 1 million degrees Farenheit - temperatures that are hotter than the Sun's surface. 

With new images taken in granular detail by the New Jersey Institute of Technology's Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO), the researchers discovered that jets of magnetized plasma (spicules) spurt like geysers from the sun's upper atmosphere into the corona (the outermost part of the Sun's atmosphere). These spicules are between 125 and 310 miles wide and erupt continuously across the Sun's surface. Images of the jets also shows how they are made and the paths they travel (at 62 miles per second).

The corona is invisible to the human eye and the source of the mechanisms has been a confounding mystery for astrophysicists - until now. The GIFs below show granular details of the new images taken by the Big Bear Solar Observatory. 

Canadian, Armand9x, has taken some gorgeous timelapse video of the Northern Lights in Winnipeg, and those shots are perfect for making a series of GIFs from. So sit back and enjoy the stars.