Astronomy Picture Of The Day

[mercuryrapids]

28th March, 2010



Explanation: It has become one of the most famous images of modern times. This image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, shows evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs) emerging from pillars of molecular hydrogen gas and dust. The giant pillars are light years in length and are so dense that interior gas contracts gravitationally to form stars. At each pillars' end, the intense radiation of bright young stars causes low density material to boil away, leaving stellar nurseries of dense EGGs exposed. The Eagle Nebula, associated with the open star cluster M16, lies about 7000 light years away. The pillars of creation were again imaged by the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory, and it was found that most EGGS are not strong emitters of X-rays.

[Mr Magoo]

Great stuff Merc!...the Stellar Nursery happens to be one of my favourite pics....along with the Various nebula pics!

[Martin]

That happens to be one of my favourites. Think how big those clouds of dust are!

[mercuryrapids]

29th March, 2010



Explanation: It was a sky for the imagination. In the early evening last week, the sky illuminating the unaided eye was perhaps even more illuminating to the mind's eye. The unaided eye saw clouds framing the Moon setting over a calm and reflective bay, spruce trees lining the nearby shores, the Pleiades open star cluster (M45) glowing prominently in the center of the sky, the Andromeda galaxy hovering just over the horizon on the right, and the belt stars of Orion lined up on the left, just below the bright orange star Betelgeuse. The bright star Sirius peeked out of the trees on the far left. The mind's eye might further imagine, however, some of the constellations coming to life, with Orion the Hunter taking up his sword and shield, followed into battle by his Big Dog (Canis Major, whose right eye is Sirius), and watched from across the sky by Cassiopeia, the Queen of Ethiopia, sitting on her Throne. The above image was taken over Pleasant Bay, Maine, USA

[Martin]

I hope i get to see a sky like that one day. I've seen the dark in some dark places like France, but i'm sure in places like Greenland, or the North Pole it must look amazing.

[mercuryrapids]

30th March, 2010



Explanation: Why is this galaxy so discombobulated? Usually, galaxies this topsy-turvy result from a recent collision with a neighboring galaxy. Spiral galaxy NGC 1313, however, appears to be alone. Brightly lit with new and blue massive stars, star formation appears so rampant in NGC 1313 that it has been labeled a starburst galaxy. Strange features of NGC 1313 include that its spiral arms are lopsided and its rotational axis is not at the center of the nuclear bar. Pictured above, NGC 1313 spans about 50,000 light years and lies only about 15 million light years away toward the constellation of the Reticle (Reticulum). Continued numerical modeling of galaxies like NGC 1313 might shed some light on its unusual nature.

[mercuryrapids]

31st March, 2010



Explanation: Featured in the sharp telescopic image, globular star cluster Omega Centauri (NGC 5139) is some 15,000 light-years away and 150 light-years in diameter. Packed with about 10 million stars much older than the Sun, Omega Cen is the largest of 200 or so known globular clusters that roam the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. Though most star clusters consist of stars with the same age and composition, the enigmatic Omega Cen exhibits the presence of different stellar populations with a spread of ages and chemical abundances. In fact, Omega Cen may be the remnant core of a small galaxy merging with the Milky Way.

[Martin]

The picture from the 30th reminded me that when i was in France and looking up at the stars, it was that dark i could actually see the Milky Way. It was an amazing sight. Made me feel really small.

I've never seen so many stars as in the picture from today.

[Mr Magoo]

Real Eye Candy this stuff!

[mercuryrapids]

Originally Posted by Martin

I've never seen so many stars as in the picture from today.

Imagine being on a planet orbiting a star in a globular cluster? The night sky would be absolutely packed with stars. It's thought, though, that stable planetary systems cannot form in globular clusters due to the gravitational effects, with stars occasionally 'bumping' into one another.

Makes you wonder why SETI sent their message from Aricebo to a globular cluster, doesn't it?