by Ann » Tue Jun 25, 2024 5:31 am
Note how the Doodad is leaking smoke along its entire length!
Note in particular the dusty gusts of smoke that seem to surround globular cluster NGC 4372. Note the small blue foreground star on the right "corner" of NGC 4372 that seems to "intrude" on the globular and actually somewhat dim it by its own faint bluish reflection nebula.
Well, now take a look at a real closeup of NGC 4372 by Velimir Popov and Emil Ivanov:
Take a look at the full size of Velimir Popov's and Emil Ivanov's image. Can you see a population of small blue stars in globular cluster NGC 4372? They are blue horizontal branch stars, and they are found in many globulars. But can you see that there are more blue stars in the "top half" of NGC 4372 (as shown in this image) than in the "bottom half"?
In my opinion, the "bottom half" of NGC 4372 is more dust-reddened by smoke from the Dark Doodad than the "top half" of this globular!
That's why we see fewer small blue stars there. So we need the old woman tossed up in a blanket to brush the cobwebs from the sky, if we want a clearer view of NGC 4372!
Unless we like the cobwebs of the sky, of course! They are our galaxy's incubators of new stars, and without these dark clouds, our galaxy would simply "wither and die"!
Although it must be said that no star formation is visible in the Dark Doodad. But other dark clouds in the Milky Way are full of little star babies!
Star babies in the dark cloud of NGC 2264. Credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech/P.S. Teixeira
Ann
Note how the Doodad is leaking smoke along its entire length!
[img3="The Dark Doodad Nebula.
Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh & Rocco Sung"]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2406/Doodad_PughSung_1080.jpg[/img3]
Note in particular the dusty gusts of smoke that seem to surround globular cluster NGC 4372. Note the small blue foreground star on the right "corner" of NGC 4372 that seems to "intrude" on the globular and actually somewhat dim it by its own faint bluish reflection nebula.
[attachment=1]APOD 25 June 2024 detail.png[/attachment]
Well, now take a look at a real closeup of NGC 4372 by Velimir Popov and Emil Ivanov:
[img3="NGC 4372. Credit: Velimir Popov and Emil Ivanov"]https://www.irida-observatory.org/Namibia-Tivoli/NGC4372/NGC4372_LRGB_Crop_1100px.jpg[/img3]
Take a look at the full size of Velimir Popov's and Emil Ivanov's image. Can you see a population of small blue stars in globular cluster NGC 4372? They are blue horizontal branch stars, and they are found in many globulars. But can you see that there are more blue stars in the "top half" of NGC 4372 (as shown in this image) than in the "bottom half"?
In my opinion, the "bottom half" of NGC 4372 is more dust-reddened by smoke from the Dark Doodad than the "top half" of this globular! :shock: That's why we see fewer small blue stars there. So we need the old woman tossed up in a blanket to brush the cobwebs from the sky, if we want a clearer view of NGC 4372!
[float=left][img3=""]https://assets.americanliterature.com/al/images/nursery-rhyme/there-was-an-old-woman-tossed-up-in-a-basket.jpg[/img3][/float][float=right][img3=""]https://assets.americanliterature.com/al/images/nursery-rhyme/there-was-an-old-woman-tossed-up-in-a-basket-2.jpg[/img3][/float]
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Unless we like the cobwebs of the sky, of course! They are our galaxy's incubators of new stars, and without these dark clouds, our galaxy would simply "wither and die"! :shock: Although it must be said that no star formation is visible in the Dark Doodad. But other dark clouds in the Milky Way are full of little star babies!
[float=right][attachment=0]Star babies in NGC 2264 NASA JPL Caltech P S Teixeira.png[/attachment][c][size=85][color=#0040FF]Star babies in the dark cloud of NGC 2264. Credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech/P.S. Teixeira
[/color][/size][/c][/float][img3="Hush baby, don't cry! You're going to be a star when you grow up. And you will have little planet babies of your own."]https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/cartoon-sitting-crying-little-baby-600nw-513313348.jpg[/img3]
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Ann