Originally Posted by: GuitarPsyand I thought I was alone with my universe-obsession :p though I'm more into the theory stuff, not the constellation-names-memorizing-stuff

really nice pics

Yeah, me too. My new fasicination is with the theory of Dark Matter. This one implies that the universe is not "empty" but is in fact made up of Dark Matter. The only evidence of this is called gravitational lensing. This is where the gravitational pull from a galaxy or large star and even our own Sun warps the space surrounding it and distorts the light from stars behind them. In some instance gravitational lensing doubles or even quadruples the image of quasars. Sometimes it turns the light into arcs instead of a focused point. In the case of our Sun, during an eclipse it bends space in such a way you can see stars that are supposed to be out of sight behind the Sun.