'Beware of photobombers': NASA shares detailed post on 'parallax effect'

TheNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) often takes to social media to mesmerise users with their amazing as well as insightful posts. Continuing with the trend, the US space agency shared a descriptive post on the 'parallax effect' stating "beware of photobombers." They shared a short video clip along with a detailed description. "While peering at galaxies far away, Hubble spotted several asteroids streaking across our solar system. Their “trails” are seen as curves across this Hubble view because of an effect called parallax," they wrote. Explaining further about the effect, they stated, "You can think of the parallax effect like this: You’re in a moving car, and trees by the side of the road look like they’re passing by faster than background objects at much larger distances. The motion of Earth around the Sun, and the motion of the asteroids along their orbits, also contribute to the apparent curve of the asteroid paths [sic]."

The post has left netizens amused since it was shared on Thursday, September 23. As of now, it has garnered more than 31,000 likes and the numbers are only increasing. It has also accumulated several reactions from people. Reacting to the post, one of the users wrote, "So amazing. Hubble has produced so many beautiful pictures since it was sent into the sky [sic]." "This is just amazing. Thanks for sharing these mind-boggling explanations [sic]. "So cool! Also, that’s the best explanation of parallax I’ve seen and now I understand it! [sic]," explained a third. "We need more funding for nasa! Imagine what we could do with a bigger budget [sic]," read another comment. 

Have a look at the post here:

Here are some comments by users: 

More about asteroids

It should be mentioned here that asteroids, often known as minor planets, are stony, airless leftovers from the early formation of the solar system. According to NASA, presently the total number of known asteroids is 1,113,527 and the majority of them can be located in the main asteroid belt, orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. They are found in different sizes ranging from hundreds of miles to a few feet and the mass of all asteroids combined is less than that of Earth's moon. However, regardless of their size, they can be very harmful. Notably, many asteroids have collided with Earth in the past, and more are expected to do in the future, according to the US space agency. 

Image: Instagram/ @ nasahubble