APOD

[EveryNerveAware]

Our Galaxy's Central Molecular Zone

 

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0811/galacticcenter_glimpse_big.jpg

 

Explanation: The central region of our Milky Way Galaxy is a mysterious and complex place. Pictured here in radio and

infrared light, the galaxy's central square degree is highlighted in fine detail. The region is known as the

Central Molecular Zone. While much of the extended emission is due to dense gas laced with molecules, also seen are

emission nebulas lit up by massive young stars, glowing supernova remnants, and the curving

Galactic Center Radio Arc in purple. The identity and root cause for many other features remains unknown. Besides a

massive black hole named Sgr A*, the Galactic Center houses the galaxy's most active star forming region.

This image is not just interesting scientifically. It's esthetic beauty won first prize this year in the AUI/NRAO Image Contest.

 

[Daylin]

Thanks for posting all these, EveryNerveAware

 

The Great Nebula in Orion looks like a Awesome!

 

 

[EveryNerveAware]

QUOTE (Daylin @ Nov 17 2008, 12:46 PM)

Thanks for posting all these, EveryNerveAware The Great Nebula in Orion looks like a Awesome!

 

 

You're quite welcome. Glad to hear that someone is enjoying them....

 

[Gompers]

 

How the heck did I miss this thread!

[EveryNerveAware]

QUOTE (Gompers @ Nov 17 2008, 01:06 PM)

How the heck did I miss this thread!

Not sure, but many thanks to RR for starting it.

 

I'm just keeping it going when I see a neat topic in APOD.

 

In case you don't have the url for APOD, it's:

 

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

Edited November 17, 2008 by EveryNerveAware

[EveryNerveAware]

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0811/anticrepuscular_britton_big.jpg

 

Explanation: What's happening over the horizon? Although the scene may appear somehow supernatural, nothing

more unusual is occurring than a setting Sun and some well placed clouds. Pictured above are anticrepuscular rays.

To understand them, start by picturing common crepuscular rays that are seen any time that sunlight pours through

scattered clouds. Now although sunlight indeed travels along straight lines, the projections of these lines onto the

spherical sky are great circles. Therefore, the crepuscular rays from a setting (or rising) sun will appear to re-converge

on the other side of the sky. At the anti-solar point 180 degrees around from the Sun, they are referred to as

anticrepuscular rays. Pictured above is a particularly striking set of anticrepuscular rays photographed in 2001 from a

moving car just outside of Boulder, Colorado, USA.

[Daylin]

QUOTE (EveryNerveAware @ Nov 17 2008, 10:21 PM)

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0811/anticrepuscular_britton_big.jpg Explanation: What's happening over the horizon? Although the scene may appear somehow supernatural, nothing more unusual is occurring than a setting Sun and some well placed clouds. Pictured above are anticrepuscular rays. To understand them, start by picturing common crepuscular rays that are seen any time that sunlight pours through scattered clouds. Now although sunlight indeed travels along straight lines, the projections of these lines onto the spherical sky are great circles. Therefore, the crepuscular rays from a setting (or rising) sun will appear to re-converge on the other side of the sky. At the anti-solar point 180 degrees around from the Sun, they are referred to as anticrepuscular rays. Pictured above is a particularly striking set of anticrepuscular rays photographed in 2001 from a moving car just outside of Boulder, Colorado, USA.

Beautiful capture in the photo.

 

Really, I've never seen anticrepuscular rays.

 

EveryNerveAware, I love that you post these. I know I can go to the website, but I'm not gonna

 

 

 

 

[Merely Space]

QUOTE (Marathonist @ Sep 18 2008, 08:09 PM)

QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Sep 18 2008, 02:57 PM) http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0809/sn1006_hst.jpg Explanation: What created this unusual space ribbon? Most assuredly, one of the most violent explosions ever witnessed by ancient humans. Back in the year 1006 AD, light reached Earth from a stellar explosion in the constellation of the Wolf (Lupus), creating a "guest star" in the sky that appeared brighter than Venus and lasted for over two years. The supernova, now cataloged at SN 1006, occurred about 7,000 light years away and has left a large remnant that continues to expand and fade today. Pictured above is a small part of that expanding supernova remnant dominated by a thin and outwardly moving shock front that heats and ionizes surrounding ambient gas. SN 1006 now has a diameter of nearly 60 light years. Within the past year, an even more powerful explosion occurred far across the universe that was visible to modern humans, without any optical aid, for a few seconds. This is amazing. 60 light-years across? I cannot fathom. . . I do remember reading about the recent explosion, though. Thanks for posting. (These make great screen-savers, BTW). Thanks for the tip on screensavers! My desktop wallpaper is now the Orion nebula.

[EveryNerveAware]

QUOTE (Daylin @ Nov 18 2008, 08:52 AM)

EveryNerveAware, I love that you post these.  I know I can go to the website, but I'm not gonna

 

 

 

[EveryNerveAware]

Any Candian TRF'ers happen to see this event?

 

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081125.html

 

[Merely Space]

Just read that this monday night, Dec. 1st, the new crescent moon should be in close proximity to both Venus and Jupiter, which are very bright. Should be an impressive display. Also, there should be some... Earthshine!

 

So, if you want to see what Neil was writing about, take a gander at the moon monday night.

[Gompers]

QUOTE (EveryNerveAware @ Nov 25 2008, 11:31 AM)

Any Candian TRF'ers happen to see this event? http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081125.html

Now that is cool.

[RushRevisited]

Here is APODs picture from a few days ago, but I have a question and maybe one of you can answer it...

 

Whenever I see pictures of them working ont he shuttle or the space station or just floating in space or whatever, I always see a completely black background. Why is it that there never seem to be stars and such shining in the background? I would think that being up there with no atmosphere blocking anything that they would be brilliant and crisp - but always just plain black darkness, no stars. I don't get it. Anyone know why this is?

 

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0812/findastronaut_sts126.jpg

[Gompers]

QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Dec 9 2008, 12:39 AM)

Here is APODs picture from a few days ago, but I have a question and maybe one of you can answer it... Whenever I see pictures of them working ont he shuttle or the space station or just floating in space or whatever, I always see a completely black background. Why is it that there never seem to be stars and such shining in the background? I would think that being up there with no atmosphere blocking anything that they would be brilliant and crisp - but always just plain black darkness, no stars. I don't get it. Anyone know why this is? http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0812/findastronaut_sts126.jpg

 

Good question!

[*Limelight*]

QUOTE (EveryNerveAware @ Nov 25 2008, 07:31 AM)

Any Candian TRF'ers happen to see this event? http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081125.html

I heard about it on the news since it happened in Alberta.

They found some pieces of it.

Edited December 9, 2008 by *Limelight*

[EveryNerveAware]

QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Dec 9 2008, 12:39 AM)

Here is APODs picture from a few days ago, but I have a question and maybe one of you can answer it... Whenever I see pictures of them working ont he shuttle or the space station or just floating in space or whatever, I always see a completely black background.  Why is it that there never seem to be stars and such shining in the background?  I would think that being up there with no atmosphere blocking anything that they would be brilliant and crisp - but always just plain black darkness, no stars.  I don't get it.  Anyone know why this is?

 

It is the same reason there were no stars visable during the moonwalks. The contrast is far too high to see the dim light of stars. The foreground objects are reflecting the Sun's light, which is orders of magnitude brighter than any light from the stars. The camera must adjust or the foreground objects would be blindingly bright.

 

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/11...ant-stars-.html

 

[EveryNerveAware]

QUOTE (*Limelight* @ Dec 9 2008, 10:49 AM)

QUOTE (EveryNerveAware @ Nov 25 2008, 07:31 AM) Any Candian TRF'ers happen to see this event? http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081125.html I heard about it on the news since it happened in Alberta. They found some pieces of it. Awesome! I thought they would find many pieces since this event was recorded from different angles. There is another cool vid of the back of a building (security camera) showing how bright the object was during its descent... high contrast shadows moving across the building as the object descended. Very cool stuff!   http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/04/Mor...25951228402814/   http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/269743

[RushRevisited]

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0812/ngc1569_hst.jpg

 

Explanation: Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory, flaunting their young, bright, blue star clusters in beautiful, symmetric spiral arms. But small, irregular galaxies form stars too. In fact, as pictured here, dwarf galaxy NGC 1569 is apparently undergoing a burst of star forming activity, thought to have begun over 25 million years ago. The resulting turbulent environment is fed by supernova explosions as the cosmic detonations spew out material and trigger further star formation. Two massive star clusters - youthful counterparts to globular star clusters in our own spiral Milky Way galaxy - are seen left of center in the gorgeous Hubble Space Telescope image. The above picture spans about 8,000 light-years across NGC 1569. A mere 11 million light-years distant, this relatively close starburst galaxy offers astronomers an excellent opportunity to study stellar populations in rapidly evolving galaxies. NGC 1569 lies in the long-necked constellation Camelopardalis.

[ladirushfan80]

QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Dec 29 2008, 02:07 PM)

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0812/ngc1569_hst.jpg Explanation: Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory, flaunting their young, bright, blue star clusters in beautiful, symmetric spiral arms. But small, irregular galaxies form stars too. In fact, as pictured here, dwarf galaxy NGC 1569 is apparently undergoing a burst of star forming activity, thought to have begun over 25 million years ago. The resulting turbulent environment is fed by supernova explosions as the cosmic detonations spew out material and trigger further star formation. Two massive star clusters - youthful counterparts to globular star clusters in our own spiral Milky Way galaxy - are seen left of center in the gorgeous Hubble Space Telescope image. The above picture spans about 8,000 light-years across NGC 1569. A mere 11 million light-years distant, this relatively close starburst galaxy offers astronomers an excellent opportunity to study stellar populations in rapidly evolving galaxies. NGC 1569 lies in the long-necked constellation Camelopardalis.

ooooooooooooooh! Pretty!!

 

I like sparkly things!!

 

 

[RushRevisited]

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0901/gcenter_hstspitzer.jpg

 

Explanation: What's happening at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy? To help find out, the orbiting Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have combined their efforts to survey the region in unprecedented detail in infrared light. Infrared light is particularly useful for probing the Milky Way's center because visible light is more greatly obscured by dust. The above image encompasses over 2,000 images from the Hubble Space Telescope's NICMOS taken last year. The image spans 300 by 115 light years with such high resolution that structures only 20 times the size of our own Solar System are discernable. Clouds of glowing gas and dark dust as well as three large star clusters are visible. Magnetic fields may be channeling plasma along the upper left near the Arches Cluster, while energetic stellar winds are carving pillars near the Quintuplet Cluster on the lower left. The massive Central Cluster of stars surrounding Sagittarius A* is visible on the lower right. Why several central, bright, massive stars appear to be unassociated with these star clusters is not yet understood.

[sundog]

QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Jan 7 2009, 08:53 AM)

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0901/gcenter_hstspitzer.jpg Explanation: What's happening at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy? To help find out, the orbiting Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have combined their efforts to survey the region in unprecedented detail in infrared light. Infrared light is particularly useful for probing the Milky Way's center because visible light is more greatly obscured by dust. The above image encompasses over 2,000 images from the Hubble Space Telescope's NICMOS taken last year. The image spans 300 by 115 light years with such high resolution that structures only 20 times the size of our own Solar System are discernable. Clouds of glowing gas and dark dust as well as three large star clusters are visible. Magnetic fields may be channeling plasma along the upper left near the Arches Cluster, while energetic stellar winds are carving pillars near the Quintuplet Cluster on the lower left. The massive Central Cluster of stars surrounding Sagittarius A* is visible on the lower right. Why several central, bright, massive stars appear to be unassociated with these star clusters is not yet understood.

OOOOhhhhh AAAAhhhhh

 

 

 

Very cool piccy Chief!

 

 

[RushRevisited]

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0901/lenticular_picking.jpg

 

 

Explanation: What's happening above those mountains? Several clouds are stacked up into one striking lenticular cloud. Normally, air moves much more horizontally than it does vertically. Sometimes, however, such as when wind comes off of a mountain or a hill, relatively strong vertical oscillations take place as the air stabilizes. The dry air at the top of an oscillation may be quite stratified in moisture content, and hence forms clouds at each layer where the air saturates with moisture. The result can be a lenticular cloud with a strongly layered appearance. The above picture was taken in 2002 looking southwest over the Tarurua Range mountains from North Island, New Zealand.

[Alsgalpal]

Beautiful!

[RushRevisited]

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0901/ngc2818_hheritage_800.jpg

 

Explanation: NGC 2818 is a beautiful planetary nebula, the gaseous shroud of a dying sun-like star. It could well offer a glimpse of the future that awaits our own Sun after spending another 5 billion years or so steadily using up hydrogen at its core, and then finally helium, as fuel for nuclear fusion. Curiously, NGC 2818 seems to lie within a sparse open star cluster, NGC 2818A, that is some 10,000 light-years distant toward the southern constellation Pyxis (Compass). Since open star clusters disperse after only a few hundred million years, this one must be exceptionally old to have one of its member stars evolve to the planetary nebula stage. At the distance of the star cluster, planetary nebula NGC 2818 would be about 4 light-years across. The Hubble image is a composite of exposures through narrow-band filters, presenting emission from nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms in the nebula as red, green, and blue hues.

[Inthend]

QUOTE (RushRevisited @ Jan 21 2009, 09:41 AM)

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0901/lenticular_picking.jpg Explanation: What's happening above those mountains? Several clouds are stacked up into one striking lenticular cloud. Normally, air moves much more horizontally than it does vertically. Sometimes, however, such as when wind comes off of a mountain or a hill, relatively strong vertical oscillations take place as the air stabilizes. The dry air at the top of an oscillation may be quite stratified in moisture content, and hence forms clouds at each layer where the air saturates with moisture. The result can be a lenticular cloud with a strongly layered appearance. The above picture was taken in 2002 looking southwest over the Tarurua Range mountains from North Island, New Zealand.

magnificent!

 

Great stuff, RR.