APOD: NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula (2011 Nov 02)

[APOD Robot]

NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula

Explanation: What powers are being wielded in the Wizard Nebula? Gravitation strong enough to form stars, and stellar winds and radiations powerful enough to create and dissolve towers of gas. Located only 8,000 light years away, the Wizard nebula, pictured above, surrounds developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears to some like a fictional medieval sorcerer. The active star forming region spans 100 about light years, making it appear larger than the angular extent of the Moon. The Wizard Nebula can be located with a small telescope toward the constellation of the King of Aethiopia (Cepheus). Although the nebula may last only a few million years, some of the stars being formed may outlive our Sun.

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[islader2]

There seems to be a bat {Chiroptera} emerging from a cave==with a long tongue for lapping blood. Nice ears on this critter!!

[S_S]

There seems to be a bat {Chiroptera} emerging from a cave==with a long tongue for lapping blood. Nice ears on this critter!!

@islader2 Couldn't agree more !

[Linda Seel]

I see,two bats,a long tailed monkey, a starfish, a question mark, a coat hanger, a fellow getting ready to dive into a pool, a dog sitting up begging, a squirrel with an acorn, a woman playing a flute, a female diva singing her heart out, a chubby little girl with a long black braid, the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow and Buzz Lightyear! To infinity and beyond! Oh I also see the wizard with his pointy hat and wand topped with two stars.

[neufer]

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• Atbash cipher code

<<A few English words 'Atbash' into other English words.

For example, "hob"="sly", "hold"="slow", "holy"="slob", "horn"="slim",
"zoo"="all", "irk"="rip", "low"="old", "glow"="told", and "grog"="tilt".>>

Code: Select all

 Plain:  wizard
 Cipher: DRAZIW

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Wizard, n. [ from wise + -ard from vizier. ]

1. A wise man; a sage.
See how from far upon the eastern road The star-led wizards [Magi] haste with odors sweet! -Milton.

2. One devoted to the black art; a magician; a conjurer; a sorcerer; an enchanter.
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<<Atbash is a simple substitution cipher for the Hebrew alphabet.

It consists in substituting aleph (the first letter) for tav (the last),
beth (the second) for shin (one before last), and so on, reversing the alphabet.

In the Book of Jeremiah [written during the oppressive Chaldean Babylonian Captivity],

Code: Select all

ששך Sheshakh (Jeremiah 25:26; 51:41) is Atbash for 
בבל Bavel = "Babylon", and

לב קמי Lev Kamai (Jeremiah 51:1) is Atbash for
 כשדים Kasdim = "Chaldeans" .

Atbash has been associated with the esoteric methodologies of Jewish mysticism's interpretations of Hebrew religious texts as in the Kabbalah.

The Atbash cipher for the modern Hebrew alphabet would be:

Code: Select all

 Plain:  אבגדהוזחטיכלמנסעפצקרשת
 Cipher: תשרקצפעסנמלכיטחזוהדגבא

An Atbash cipher for the Roman alphabet would be as follows:

Code: Select all

 Plain:  abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
 Cipher: ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

An easier, simpler and faster way of doing this is:

Code: Select all

 First 13 letters: A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
 Last 13 Letters:  Z|Y|X|W|V|U|T|S|R|Q|P|O|N

Atbash can also be used to mean the same thing in any other alphabet as well. This is a very simple substitution cipher.

For example, in Atbash, the letters "nlmvb" indicate the word "money".>>

Zig Mvfvmwliuuvi

[owlice]

What a cool nebula! I see a woman entreating the wizard and the head and shoulders of another woman reminiscent of Helena Bonham Carter in the movie "Sweeney Todd."

[orin stepanek]

The Wizard is a good name for this nebula; Also looks like a little fella praying out by his feet. Or maybe it is someone pleading to the wizard.

[NoelC]

It's simply beautiful astroimagery. Nice work! The kind of thing I'd love to see all the time on this site.

Ever notice how, when we have a nice, traditional (and VERY well done) astroimage, there's little discussion, but when (for example) a video of people dancing or something shows up we get 81 pages of discussion? And even what discussion there IS here in this thread is much about seeing "shapes in the clouds" - not stellar populations or gas cloud compositon or distances in light-years or how long until the dust forms into stars...

In my mind this says that the laypeople of the world are just happy with this image, and are enjoying it quietly.

Personally I think this image is making people think and appreciate the universe around us and engaging in the science JUST AS MUCH as any of those controversial other images, but without conflict and without name calling.

And, as history has shown, if a controversial image is posted tomorrow, you can be SURE it will garner a huge response as all have done in the past. People do not stop looking at the APOD site when they see a string of traditionally beautiful astroimages.

So it seems to me that this should be a lesson to people who try to "read" feedback from the masses via the Internet... A lack of feedback does not imply a lack of interest or appreciation.

Put another way: No news is good news.

Please keep it up.

-Noel

[Beyond]

"grog"="tilt"

Finally! The Great Quotidian Quotationist has said something that i can understand. You drink too much "grog", You "tilt" and fallover

[bystander]

And even what discussion there IS here in this thread is much about seeing "shapes in the clouds"

From APOD: NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula (2011 Nov 02)

Imagine: What shape(s) do you see in the nebula?

[pffft]

I think Charles Shultz summed it up best:
Lucy Van Pelt: Aren't the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton. I could just lie here all day and watch them drift by. If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud's formations. What do you think you see, Linus?
Linus Van Pelt: Well, those clouds up there look to me look like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean.
[points up]
Linus Van Pelt: That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor. And that group of clouds over there...
[points]
Linus Van Pelt: ...gives me the impression of the Stoning of Stephen. I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side.
Lucy Van Pelt: Uh huh. That's very good. What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?
Charlie Brown: Well... I was going to say I saw a duckie and a horsie, but I changed my mind.

[Danton]

I see a Protoss Dark Archon. ^^

[evamcd]

I guess I'm still in the Halloween mood as my mind saw cauldrons and witches.
"Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble."
--William Shakespeare, Macbeth (IV.i.12-21)

[BarerMender]

It looks like a big splash to me.

[Popeye.oneal]

I am new to this board but have loved APOD all the way back to 1996..just wanted to say hello. I see the Wizard, and what looks like a Phoenix right above and behind him. Love this pic.

[neufer]

"grog"="tilt"

Finally! The Great Quotidian Quotationist has said something that i can understand.
You drink too much "grog", You "tilt" and fallover

But you knew that already.

[Beyond]

Only the principles of it.

[SKYFIREINC]

A squadron of manta rays from hell.

[CCDMan]

OK, Hmm.

I hope that this is just coincidental. I submitted the following on Oct 31 by email as a possible APOD.
Never got a reply (of course, that is not unusual).

http://nightskypictures.com/7380/wizard_zoom.htm

In the email I mentioned that APOD had never used this nebula before.

Today I not only see another image of the aforementioned nebula, but also a discussion of shapes.

[Gypsy]

It is Merlin in the ocean. He is surfing. Surfing Merlin 8

[saturn2]

Wizard Nebula NGC 7380 has many new stars, gas and wind stellar.
Wizard Nebula will life few years,
But the stars will life many years more
More that our Sun
More that we ( Homo sapiens )

[neufer]

[size=150]NGC 7380 in classic Hubble Palette ([b][color=#40BF00]Ha[/color]/[color=#0000FF]OIII[/color]/[color=#FF0000]SII[/color][/b])[/size]

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[size=150]NGC 7380 from[/size] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide-field_Infrared_Survey_Explorer][size=150]WISE[/size][/url].

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[islader2]

@ S_S Thanks for your support! Linda Seel is dissing us with all that imagery==while Neufer is on tangent, as is often the case. It is a bat irregardless or regardless or gardless or plain gard. Qaplah.

[maxinef]

I see Wynken, Blynken and Nod

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... w&dur=2144

See illustration at the bottom

[neptunium]

A curved tree trunk with eyes, a nose, and a mouth.