the-star-stuff: Andrew Ainslie Common’s photograph of the Orion Nebula, for which he won the Royal Astronomical Society’s Gold Medal.

the-star-stuff:

Andrew Ainslie Common’s photograph of the Orion Nebula, for which he won the Royal Astronomical Society’s Gold Medal.

  • May 5
  • , 2012

expose-the-light:

Into the Sword of Orion

Distance: 1500 Light Years

Image Copyright Robert Gendler 2006

The region of Orion and Monoceros has unique importance as one of the great regions of active star formation in our galaxy.

Its proximity and favorable position in the sky have made this one of the most extensively studied regions in the Milky Way.

  • May 4
  • , 2012
the-star-stuff: Sifting through Dust near Orion’s Belt A new image of the region surrounding the reflection nebula Messier 78, just to the north of Orion’s Belt, shows clouds of cosmic dust threaded through the nebula like a string of pearls. The observations, made with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope, use the heat glow of interstellar dust grains to show astronomers where new stars are being formed.

the-star-stuff:

Sifting through Dust near Orion’s Belt

A new image of the region surrounding the reflection nebula Messier 78, just to the north of Orion’s Belt, shows clouds of cosmic dust threaded through the nebula like a string of pearls. The observations, made with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope, use the heat glow of interstellar dust grains to show astronomers where new stars are being formed.

  • May 2
  • , 2012
This is Hubble’s “Mystic Mountain” image, as seen by infrared cameras. Infrared light penetrates clouds of gas and dust, giving us this inside view of the nebula.  See more sizes here!

This is Hubble’s “Mystic Mountain” image, as seen by infrared cameras. Infrared light penetrates clouds of gas and dust, giving us this inside view of the nebula. 

See more sizes here!

  • January 30
  • , 2012
The Ghost Nebula —One of the Largest Spheres of the Milky Way Abell 39, about 7000 light years away, is a ghostly remnant of a Sun-like star and one of the largest existing spheres in the Milky Way. Six light-years across, it was once a sun-like star’s outer atmosphere expelled thousands of years ago. The nearly perfect spherical nature of Abell 39 allows astronomers to accurately estimate how much relative material is actually absorbing and emitting light. Observations indicate that Abell 39 contains only about half of the oxygen found in the Sun, an intriguing but not surprising confirmation of the chemical differences between stars. The reason why the central star is slightly off center by 0.1 light-years is currently unknown. Several galaxies millions of light years away can be seen through and around the spectral nebula.

The Ghost Nebula —One of the Largest Spheres of the Milky Way

Abell 39, about 7000 light years away, is a ghostly remnant of a Sun-like star and one of the largest existing spheres in the Milky Way. Six light-years across, it was once a sun-like star’s outer atmosphere expelled thousands of years ago. The nearly perfect spherical nature of Abell 39 allows astronomers to accurately estimate how much relative material is actually absorbing and emitting light.

Observations indicate that Abell 39 contains only about half of the oxygen found in the Sun, an intriguing but not surprising confirmation of the chemical differences between stars. The reason why the central star is slightly off center by 0.1 light-years is currently unknown. Several galaxies millions of light years away can be seen through and around the spectral nebula.

(via the-star-stuff)

  • December 6
  • , 2011
the-star-stuff: The Propeller Nebula (DWB 111) in Cygnus Taken through LB-0003: 14.5-inch (0.37-meter) RC Optical Systems Ritchey-Chretien reflector with ion-milled optics at f/9.0 on a Software Bisque Paramount ME German Equatorial mount, Apogee Alta U16M CCD camera, Hydrogen-alpha/Sulfur-II/Oxygen-III image with exposures of 90, 60, and 60 minutes, respectively Photo by John Ebersole

the-star-stuff:

The Propeller Nebula (DWB 111) in Cygnus

Taken through LB-0003: 14.5-inch (0.37-meter) RC Optical Systems Ritchey-Chretien reflector with ion-milled optics at f/9.0 on a Software Bisque Paramount ME German Equatorial mount, Apogee Alta U16M CCD camera, Hydrogen-alpha/Sulfur-II/Oxygen-III image with exposures of 90, 60, and 60 minutes, respectively

Photo by John Ebersole

  • November 26
  • , 2011
the-star-stuff: A portion of the Veil Nebula, left behind with the violent explosion of a massive star, shows delicate wisps of gas and dust. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

the-star-stuff:

A portion of the Veil Nebula, left behind with the violent explosion of a massive star, shows delicate wisps of gas and dust.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

  • November 26
  • , 2011
the-star-stuff: IC 1795 in Cassiopeia Taken through LB-0003: 14.5-inch (0.37-meter) RC Optical Systems Ritchey-Chretien reflector with ion-milled optics at f/9.0 on a Software Bisque Paramount ME German Equatorial mount, Apogee Alta U16M CCD camera, Hydrogen-alpha/Sulfur-II/Oxygen-II image with exposures of 150, 90, and 90 minutes, respectively Photo credit: John Ebersole

the-star-stuff:

IC 1795 in Cassiopeia

Taken through LB-0003: 14.5-inch (0.37-meter) RC Optical Systems Ritchey-Chretien reflector with ion-milled optics at f/9.0 on a Software Bisque Paramount ME German Equatorial mount, Apogee Alta U16M CCD camera, Hydrogen-alpha/Sulfur-II/Oxygen-II image with exposures of 150, 90, and 90 minutes, respectively

Photo credit: John Ebersole

  • November 26
  • , 2011
the-star-stuff: Beautiful New Image of a Rare Blue Nebula This wispy blue cloud of gas and dust is a star-forming region surrounding the star R Coronae Australis, which is about 420 light-years away. The new portrait was taken with the Wide Field Imager at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. The image, a combination of 12 separate snapshots in three different colors, depicts a young family of stars still embedded in and interacting with the cloud of dust and gas from which they formed. The image spans about 4 light-years, and focuses on a nascent star-forming region located in the small, tiara-shaped constellation Coronae Australis, the Southern Crown. The infant stars there give off hot, intense radiation, and the surrounding gas and dust either reflects or absorbs this radiation and re-emits it at a different wavelength. While most nebulae glow with a characteristic red tint, the R Coronae Australis region takes an unusual blue hue. The stars are about the mass of the sun, and don’t emit enough ultraviolet light to strip the surrounding hydrogen gas of its electrons, which would produce the familiar red glow. The blue fog is mostly due to starlight reflecting off small dust particles.

the-star-stuff:

Beautiful New Image of a Rare Blue Nebula

This wispy blue cloud of gas and dust is a star-forming region surrounding the star R Coronae Australis, which is about 420 light-years away. The new portrait was taken with the Wide Field Imager at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. The image, a combination of 12 separate snapshots in three different colors, depicts a young family of stars still embedded in and interacting with the cloud of dust and gas from which they formed.

The image spans about 4 light-years, and focuses on a nascent star-forming region located in the small, tiara-shaped constellation Coronae Australis, the Southern Crown. The infant stars there give off hot, intense radiation, and the surrounding gas and dust either reflects or absorbs this radiation and re-emits it at a different wavelength.

While most nebulae glow with a characteristic red tint, the R Coronae Australis region takes an unusual blue hue. The stars are about the mass of the sun, and don’t emit enough ultraviolet light to strip the surrounding hydrogen gas of its electrons, which would produce the familiar red glow. The blue fog is mostly due to starlight reflecting off small dust particles.

  • November 25
  • , 2011
The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) and Melotte 15 Cosmic clouds form fantastic shapes in the central regions of the Heart Nebula (IC 1805). Stellar winds and radiation from massive hot stars in the nebula’s newborn star cluster, Melotte 15, sculpt the gas. Only about 1.5 million years old, the cluster’s stars seem to float in the foreground of this colorful skyscape. This composite through three narrowband and three visible-band filters spans about 40 light-years. Melotte 15 and the rest of the Heart Nebula lie some 7,500 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. (Photo by Ken Crawford)

The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) and Melotte 15

Cosmic clouds form fantastic shapes in the central regions of the Heart Nebula (IC 1805). Stellar winds and radiation from massive hot stars in the nebula’s newborn star cluster, Melotte 15, sculpt the gas. Only about 1.5 million years old, the cluster’s stars seem to float in the foreground of this colorful skyscape. This composite through three narrowband and three visible-band filters spans about 40 light-years. Melotte 15 and the rest of the Heart Nebula lie some 7,500 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia.

(Photo by Ken Crawford)

(via the-star-stuff)

  • November 25
  • , 2011