Starship Asterisk*

Art Neuendorffer, thank you for this great reply! It makes sense of what otherwise seemed odd, indeed!

Could anyone please offer a science-based explanation for the apparently more-or-less bi-polar nature of the star's ejected material (as opposed to it being more spherical in nature)? Thanks!

Am I mistaken in wondering whether the bright butterfly-shaped nebula is below and right of center rather than above and left of center? Perhaps the image was inverted?

I recall recently seeing an image similar to this, but showing the Milky Way and having an arrow pointing to the place of our solar system in the galaxy. Not sure if it was an APOD or other. Have searched the APOD archive for it, but thus far without success. If anyone can provide a link to this im...

I recall recently seeing an image similar to this, but showing the Milky Way and having an arrow pointing to the place of our solar system in the galaxy. Not sure if it was an APOD or other. Have searched the APOD archive for it, but thus far without success. If anyone can provide a link to this ima...

Thank you. (Had the original write-up stated that the star gained sufficient mass that its core crossed the threshold of CARBON fusion this clarification would not be needed.)

Sorry, but I find this write-up confusing. Stars routinely are powered by nuclear fusion reactions, so what is meant by saying that the star gained so much mass that its core crossed the threshold of nuclear fusion?

Perfect!

Congratulations, apod, and a big thank you to all who work to make it happen. I start my day with apod. Puts the remainder of the day into a healthier perspective.

Beautiful! This looks like a Maxfield Parrish painting!

What is the significance of the red arrow associated with the blue dot which, according to the explanation, represents our location? The red arrow is not mentioned in the explanation. Thanks in advance for any help. Overall, very interesting! Based on the video at the bottom of this page https://pu...

What is the significance of the red arrow associated with the blue dot which, according to the explanation, represents our location? The red arrow is not mentioned in the explanation. Thanks in advance for any help. Overall, very interesting!

Thanks, John. No offense taken. A good reminder that I should be more careful/wary in my use of language. Like you, I've noted with dismay that not all who visit this site seem interested in furthering the cause of good science.

I was merely using the term "game trails" to point out and to describe what strike me as interesting surface disturbances. Sorry if some folks actually took this literally. I've done considerable hiking in terrain similar to this in Arizona, USA. If I saw disturbances such as these in Ariz...

JohnD wrote:
I fear you have your curiousity set to stun!

John

And your curiosity is set to? Some natural force(s) caused distinct surface disturbances having the appearance of what -- if found on Earth -- might easily be taken for game trails or hiking trails. And you're not curious about that?

My mind translates 5 meters as about 16 feet. Is that correct? If so ,then "Baby Remarkable" is about the size of a bungalow, and the 'game trails' are fairly narrow. I think I see another 'trickle trail' coming down from the right (as we look at it) shoulder, and ending just to the right...

My mind translates 5 meters as about 16 feet. Is that correct? If so ,then "Baby Remarkable" is about the size of a bungalow, and the 'game trails' are fairly narrow. I think I see another 'trickle trail' coming down from the right (as we look at it) shoulder, and ending just to the right...

Would be helpful if we could see a close-up of these disturbances. They certainly appear at first glance to be real artifacts. But if they had been here over the sort of time period dating from when something such as Alpine transhumance might have taken place wouldn't they have been washed out long ...

I'd guess that the fine sand is simply a wind-blown dune, but that's just a quick, off-the-cuff guess. The dune strikes me as less odd than the two "game trails." Will be eager to read what the experts have to say!

What are scientists saying about the two rather distinct, more or less parallel "game trails" leading away from the rover's location toward Mt. Remarkable's summit?

geckzilla wrote: Anyway, the soil is not actually white.

Thank you for this clarification regarding the color of the soil, geckzilla. I was going to ask the same question. The APOD image definitely makes it look white.

With reluctance and apologies for being a spoil sport and interrupting the flow of talk about cats, I'd just throw in a brief comment about the apod: somebody should talk with those Fins about light pollution! How about installing downward facing street lamps such as those in Tucson Arizona, which w...

Thanks, Chris; and that's what suggested to me that the pair of stars we were discussing -- because they exhibit faint spikes -- might be relatively nearby, as also suggested in a comment Ann made regarding their relative motion.

Thanks for the link to the Wikipedia item, geckzilla. But even the image in the Wiki item seems to contradict your statement that diffraction spikes are not a good indicator of distance. The (apparently) more nearby sources of light have spikes, whereas the seemingly more distant ones don't. Not int...

in any case, I still find it quite likely that they are a small pair of relatively nearby stars, moving quickly through space and changing their position in relation to their Seyfert Sextet background. Ann Thank you, Ann (and others), for all the interesting analysis of this image. Regarding the di...