APOD: Ghost of the Cepheus Flare (2011 Oct 31)

[APOD Robot]

Ghost of the Cepheus Flare

Explanation: Spooky shapes seem to haunt this starry expanse, drifting through the night in the royal constellation Cepheus. Of course, the shapes are cosmic dust clouds faintly visible in dimly reflected starlight. Far from your own neighborhood on planet Earth, they lurk at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex some 1,200 light-years away. Over 2 light-years across the ghostly nebula and relatively isolated Bok globule, also known as vdB 141 or Sh2-136, is near the center of the field. The core of the dark cloud on the right is collapsing and is likely a binary star system in the early stages of formation. Even so, if the spooky shapes could talk, they might well wish you a happy Halloween.

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[Beyond]

I have only one thing to say about this ghostly APOD-->BOO!!

[MSP1]

Clicking on the main image goes to http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/im ... _block.jpg which does not exist!

[bactame]

The Vargas image of M42 posted September 13 last is another beauty of all hallows eve I've had on my desktop since that time. It is the face of a witch with wispy gray hair and a warty nose. Her eyes and mouth covered by a three fingered hand asking us to be quiet as she sneaks up on our Earthly Lair.

[starstruck]

Woo-hoo-hoooo!

Great choice! Uncanny how those dust clouds form shapes that look so ghostly. Also intriguing how the formation on the right hand side of this view looks like something has punched a hole right through the nebula allowing the starlight to shine through like a beam.

[Indigo_Sunrise]

Clicking on the main image goes to http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/im ... _block.jpg which does not exist!

You beat me to it, MSP1....

I have only one thing to say about this ghostly APOD-->BOO!!

Beyond, is that a good 'BOO'...?


HAPPY HALLOWEEN, APOD-ers!

[Beyond]

Clicking on the main image goes to http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/im ... _block.jpg which does not exist!

You beat me to it, MSP1....

I have only one thing to say about this ghostly APOD-->BOO!!

Beyond, is that a good 'BOO'...?


HAPPY HALLOWEEN, APOD-ers!

Must be. There's no "HOO" after it.

[janndave0711]

How very fun of you, Dr. Bonnell to be so topical today. I check APOD out every day and have turned my grandchildren on to astronomy through APOD. Thanks for making science beautiful and fun!

[jimnms]

Clicking on the main image goes to http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/im ... _block.jpg which does not exist!

One of the links in the description takes you to: http://www.caelumobservatory.com/mlsc/sh2136.jpg

[mekohr]

Interesting how the two spooks on the left seem to have been formed under the same conditions, like two branches of a snowflake. They each have a left arm extended upward, a large horn on the right side of their head and a horn bud on the left side. Wierd!!

[orin stepanek]

Happy Hallowaeen! Wiki's Witch Head Nebula.

Click to view full size image

[neptunium]

The sky is haunted! There are ghosts and witches in there!

[bystander]

Clicking on the main image goes to http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/im ... _block.jpg which does not exist!

One of the links in the description takes you to: http://www.caelumobservatory.com/mlsc/sh2136.jpg

For a different view, see APOD: 2010 Oct 30 and http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1010/Vd ... n_full.jpg
http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=21821

[Boomer12k]

Neat picture. I wonder which "DIRECTION", those "ghosts" are . Are they areas coming out "AT US", or "AWAY FROM US", a 3 dimensional perspective would be interesting....HAPPY HALLOWEEN.....

:-----===== *

[neufer]

Doctor van den Bergh

<<vdB 141 is a reflection nebula located in the constellation Cepheus. Sometimes referred to as the ghost nebula, its awkward name is its catalog number in Sidney van den Bergh's catalog of reflection nebulae, published in 1966.>>

<<Sidney van den Bergh was born in Holland in 1929 and had decided that he wanted to become an astronomer by the time he was five years old. After attending Leiden University for a year he received a scholarship to attend Princeton University, where he received his A.B. in 1950. Subsequently he obtained an M.Sc. from Ohio State University and a Dr. rer. nat. from the University of Goettingen in Germany. The first half of his astronomical career was spent at the David Dunlap Observatory of the University of Toronto where he developed an interest in galaxies, star clusters, variable stars and supernovae. The second half of his career was spent in Victoria, British Columbia, where he became Director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory. Now, in his retirement, he is spending most of his time on the study of galaxy evolution using images of galaxies at distances of up to ten billion light years that were obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope.>>

[deathfleer]

those dusts collecting to form a star......then a star material must has been uniform , and all stars should be of same material?

[Chris Peterson]

those dusts collecting to form a star......then a star material must has been uniform , and all stars should be of same material?

Yes, newborn stars are roughly made of the same thing- about 75% hydrogen and 25% helium. The dust that ends up in a star doesn't contribute more than a few percent of the total. With time, however, stars evolve in different directions, depending on their mass, and end up containing different material.

[NoelC]

A most excellent APOD! Really feels like you're out there.

-Noel

[Tony Wells]

While APOD's photos are extraordinary, the grammar and punctuation used in the explanation is, often, very ordinary. That from the 31st of October is an appropriate example of the latter with missing punctuation marks and words. To help you in the future, have added four commas and four additional words in upper case.

Explanation: Spooky shapes seem to haunt this starry expanse, drifting through the night in the royal constellation Cepheus. Of course, the shapes are cosmic dust clouds, faintly visible in dimly reflected starlight. Far from your own neighborhood on planet Earth, they lurk at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex, some 1,200 light-years away. Over TWO light-years across, the ghostly nebula and relatively isolated Bok globule, also known as vdB 141 or Sh2-136, ARE near the center of the field. The core of the dark cloud, on the right, is collapsing and is likely TO BE a binary star system in the early stages of formation. Even so, if the spooky shapes could talk, they might well wish you a happy Halloween.

[rstevenson]

... To help you in the future, have added four commas and four additional words in upper case.

Explanation: Spooky shapes seem to haunt this starry expanse, drifting through the night in the royal constellation Cepheus. Of course, the shapes are cosmic dust clouds, faintly visible in dimly reflected starlight. Far from your own neighborhood on planet Earth, they lurk at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex, some 1,200 light-years away. Over TWO light-years across, the ghostly nebula and relatively isolated Bok globule, also known as vdB 141 or Sh2-136, ARE near the center of the field. The core of the dark cloud, on the right, is collapsing and is likely TO BE a binary star system in the early stages of formation. Even so, if the spooky shapes could talk, they might well wish you a happy Halloween.

It's always risky to edit someone else's work in public. While I can't speak for the authors, I will offer you my contrary thoughts. Changing 2 to TWO is simply a matter of style. The same is true of your added TO BE. The sentence reads just fine without that addition. As for changing IS to ARE, I'm not so sure. The sentence is a bit convoluted and I'm not clear on whether the object(s) referred to is (or are) one or two things. The "ghostly nebula" could actually be the "Bok globule", and the other two references to it are simply other names for the same thing -- or at least that's how I read it.

Rob

[Steve Randall]

Interesting how the two spooks on the left seem to have been formed under the same conditions, like two branches of a snowflake. They each have a left arm extended upward, a large horn on the right side of their head and a horn bud on the left side. Wierd!!

To me, the whole thing looks fractal. The big spook has at least 2 little spooks on his arms. One of the little spooks seems to have lesser spooks along his arms. Could it really be fractal or is this just a coincidence?

[alter-ego]

I find the multi-colored diffraction spikes particularly striking and appropriate for this APOD. You don't see the diffractive chromatic affects with such clarity very often. A quality, extended exposure on a 6.5 magnitude star really brings them out.