Found Images: 2018 October

[bystander]

---

Have you seen a great image or video somewhere that you think would make a great APOD? Nominate it for APOD! Please post as much information here as you have about the image/video with a link to any source(s) for it you know of here, and the editors will take a look.

When posting the image itself, please do not post anything larger than a thumbnail here; please honor the copyright holder's copyright.

Please keep hotlinked images under 400K.

Thank you!

<< Previously

[bystander]

Celestial Fairy Lights
ESA Hubble Picture of the Week | 2018 Oct 01

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

---

This glittering ball of stars is the globular cluster NGC 1898, which lies towards the centre of the Large Magellanic Cloud — one of our closest cosmic neighbours. The Large Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galaxy that hosts an extremely rich population of star clusters, making it an ideal laboratory for investigating star formation.

Discovered in November 1834 by British astronomer John Herschel, NGC 1898 has been scrutinised numerous times by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Today we know that globular clusters belong to the oldest known objects in the Universe and that they are relics of the first epochs of galaxy formation. While we already have a pretty good picture on the globular clusters of the Milky Way — still with many unanswered questions — our studies on globular clusters in nearby dwarf galaxies just started. The observations of NGC 1898 will help to determine if their properties are similar to the ones found in the Milky Way, or if they have different features, due to being in a different cosmic environment.

This image was taken by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). The WFC3 observes light ranging from near-infrared to near-ultraviolet wavelengths, while the ACS explores the near-infrared to the ultraviolet.

[starsurfer]

Longmore 8 and NGC 5121
http://members.pcug.org.au/~stevec/ESO3 ... 3_RC14.htm
Copyright: Steve Crouch

[starsurfer]

Dumbbell Nebula (M27)
http://astrophotography.aa6g.org/Astrop ... f8300.html
Copyright: Chuck Vaughn

[starsurfer]

NGC 7538
https://www.hansonastronomy.com/sh2-278
Copyright: Mark Hanson

[starsurfer]

Lagoon Nebula (M8)
http://www.cielaustral.com/galerie/photo82.htm
Copyright: Ciel Austral

[starsurfer]

NGC 1760
https://www.martinpughastrophotography. ... n-the-lmc/
Copyright: Martin Pugh

[starsurfer]

NGC 362
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1643a/
Copyright: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Click to view full size image

[Ann]

NGC 1760
https://www.martinpughastrophotography. ... n-the-lmc/
Copyright: Martin Pugh
NGC1760.jpg

NGC 5471
Source: https://slideplayer.com/slide/9303749/ (probably Hubble)

Click to view full size image

Couldn't resist posting this bright OB region (a mini-galaxy in itself) right outside the great M101.

I have posted it as a comment on Martin Pugh's picture of NGC 1760 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. NGC 1760 and NGC 5471 are pretty similar.

This picture of NGC 5471 by You-Hua Chu makes NGC 5471 look even more similar to NGC 1760.

Ann

[starsurfer]

NGC 1760
https://www.martinpughastrophotography. ... n-the-lmc/
Copyright: Martin Pugh
NGC1760.jpg

NGC 5471
Source: https://slideplayer.com/slide/9303749/ (probably Hubble)

Click to view full size image

Couldn't resist posting this bright OB region (a mini-galaxy in itself) right outside the great M101.

I have posted it as a comment on Martin Pugh's picture of NGC 1760 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. NGC 1760 and NGC 5471 are pretty similar.

This picture of NGC 5471 by You-Hua Chu makes NGC 5471 look even more similar to NGC 1760.

Ann

Thanks for posting that, never seen those before. The nebulae in M101 and M33 and LMC are awesome! I've always wondered what an internal view of the planetary nebulae in other galaxies would be?

[starsurfer]

LDN 982
http://www.astrosurf.com/ilizaso/orriak ... Q_U16m.htm
Copyright: Iñaki Lizaso

[starsurfer]

Sh2-150 and vdB154
https://www.astrobin.com/317799/
Copyright: Tero Turunen

[bystander]

Through the Hourglass
ESO Picture of the Week | 2018 Oct 08

Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S.P.S. Eyres

---

This object is possibly the oldest of its kind ever catalogued: the hourglass-shaped remnant named CK Vulpeculae. Originally thought to be a nova, classifying this unusually shaped object correctly has proven challenging over the years. A number of possible explanations for its origins have been considered and discarded. It is now thought to be the result of two stars colliding — although there is still debate about what type of stars they were.

CK Vulpeculae was first spotted on 20 June 1670 by French monk and astronomer Père Dom Anthelme. When it first appeared it was easily visible with the naked eye; over the subsequent two years the flare varied in brightness and disappeared and reappeared twice, before finally vanishing from view for good.

During the twentieth century, astronomers came to understand that most novae could be explained by the runaway explosive behaviour and interactions between two close stars in a binary system. The features seen around CK Vulpeculae didn’t seem to fit this model particularly well,however, puzzling astronomers for many years.

The central part of the remnant has now been studied in detail using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This striking image shows the best view of the object to date, and traces the cosmic dust and emission within and around CK Vulpeculae to reveal its intricate structure. CK Vulpeculae harbours a warped dusty disc at its centre and gaseous jets which indicate some central system propelling material outwards. These new observations are the first to bring this system into focus, suggesting a solution to a 348 year-old mystery.

viewtopic.php?t=38767

[bystander]

Rings upon Rings (Messier 95)
ESA Hubble Picture of the Week | 2018 Oct 08

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

---

This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals a spiral galaxy named Messier 95 (also known as M95 or NGC 3351). Located about 35 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo (The Lion), this swirling spiral was discovered by astronomer Pierre Méchain in 1781, and catalogued by French astronomer Charles Messier just four days later. Messier was primarily a comet hunter, and was often left frustrated by objects in the sky that resembled comets but turned out not to be. To help other astronomers avoid confusing these objects in the future, he created his famous catalogue of Messier objects.

Most definitely not a comet, Messier 95 is actually a barred spiral galaxy. The galaxy has a bar cutting through its centre, surrounded by an inner ring currently forming new stars. Also our own Milky Way is a barred spiral.

As well as hosting this stellar nursery, Messier 95 is a known host of the dramatic and explosive final stages in the lives of massive stars: supernovae. In March 2012 a spectacular supernova named SN 2012aw was observed in the outer regions of one of Messier 95’s spiral arms. Once the light from the supernova had faded, astronomers were able to compare observations of the region before and after the explosion to find out which star had “disappeared” — the progenitor star. In this case, the star was an especially huge red supergiant up to 26 times more massive than the Sun.

[starsurfer]

Rho Ophiuchi Nebula (IC 4604)
http://www.pbase.com/tango33/image/160830033
Copyright: Kfir Simon

[starsurfer]

Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/manueljas ... 986839001/
Copyright: Manuel Jimenez

Caution: may contain a soap bubble shaped planetary nebula.

[starsurfer]

Soap Bubble Nebula (PN G75.5+1.7)
http://www.astronomersdoitinthedark.com ... =145&p=593
Copyright: Scott Rosen

[starsurfer]

Sh2-114
https://www.astrobin.com/321205/0/
Copyright: Rick Stevenson

Somewhere in this image is the planetary nebula Kronberger 26.

[bystander]

On the Hunt for Newborn Stars
ESA Hubble Picture of the Week | 2018 Oct 15

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA; Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (geckzilla)

---

This image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), shows a patch of space filled with galaxies of all shapes, colours, and sizes. WFC3 is able to view many such galaxies at an unprecedented resolution — high enough to locate and study regions of star formation in a bid to understand how new stars spring to life throughout the cosmos.

Stars are born within giant clouds of gas. These massive clouds, or stellar nurseries, grow unstable and begin to collapse under gravity, becoming the seeds that will grow into new stars. By analysing the luminosity, size, and formation rate of different stellar nurseries, scientists hope to learn more about the processes that can lead to the formation of a newborn star. Studying nurseries within different galaxies will provide information about star formation at different points in time and space throughout the Universe.

Just below centre in this image is a formation of galaxies akin to a smiling face! Two yellow-hued blobs hang atop a sweeping arc of light, forming a celestial object known as SDSSJ0952+3434. The lower, arc-shaped galaxy has the characteristic shape of a galaxy that has been gravitationally lensed — its light has passed near to a massive object en route to us, causing it to become distorted and stretched out of shape.

[starsurfer]

Gum 41
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1413a/
Copyright: ESO

[starsurfer]

Dark Doodad
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/167371385
Copyright: Michael Sidonio

[starsurfer]

CG 11
http://www.atacama-photographic-observa ... php?id=121
Copyright: Thierry Demange, Richard Galli and Thomas Petit

[starsurfer]

vdB141
http://www.cxielo.ch/gallery/v/nebulae/ ... 1.jpg.html
Copyright: Martin Rusterholz

[starsurfer]

LDN 1003
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ytoropin/30150950432/
Copyright: Yuriy Toropin

[starsurfer]

LBN 408
http://www.astroimages.at/gallery/lbn408-1.htm
Copyright: Manfred Wasshuber

LBN 408 is the blue reflection nebula.