Found Images: 2023 January

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WHTZ 3
https://www.imagingdeepspace.com/whtz-3.html
Copyright: Peter Goodhew

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StDr 4
https://pbase.com/skybox/image/172029471
Copyright: Kevin Quin

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NGC 1333
https://www.astrobin.com/u0ul4q/
Copyright: Boris Chausov

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Sh2-280
http://www.waid-observatory.com/sh2-280 ... 1-HOO.html
Copyright: Donald Waid

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IC 2944
https://www.astrobin.com/9eg922/B/
Copyright: Diego Gravinese

[bystander]

A Breeze of Color
NOIRLab Image of the Week | 2022 Jan 18

Image Credit: PNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Slovinský

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As the Sun sets and its light scatters through Earth’s atmosphere, the Arizona sky glows in wondrous shades of vivid color. Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, is the perfect location to enjoy these spectacular sunsets. Arid deserts, like the Arizona-Sonoran Desert where KPNO is located, display a clearer array of colors than areas where rain and humid weather are almost daily features. When heavy particles are present in the atmosphere, like water vapor, they absorb some of the sunlight and desaturate the colors. Through dry desert air, however, sunlight can pass unobstructed as it reaches our eyes. These natural conditions are helped by the clean air and low air pollution that are due to Arizona’s sparse population. For astronomers, the torrid, cleaner air enhances their ability to capture sharper data of the visible sky once the dark sets in.

[bystander]

Lunar light over Paranal
ELO Picture of the Week | 2022 Jan 23

Image Credit: ESO/J. C. Muñoz-Mateos

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In this Picture of the Week, a three hour long photographic sequence shows the path of a lunar eclipse over ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal, Chile. This eclipse, which took place on 20-21 January 2019, was visible from the Americas. As the Moon moves into the Earth’s shadow, it becomes darker and acquires a red hue. This reddening, which is due to sunlight being scattered by Earth’s atmosphere before reaching the Moon, can be seen in the middle of the trail. This trail, and those of the stars in the background, are due to the Earth’s rotation and are a ubiquitous feature in long exposure photographs of the night sky.

The stars above ESO’s telescopes can be seen clearly because of the high altitude at the Paranal mountain and the lack of light pollution from human settlements. But the bright lunar light can still disturb astronomical observations done in visible light. Astronomers therefore must take into account the position and phase of the Moon when planning and executing observations.

[bystander]

Tempestuous Young Stars in Orion
ESA Hubble Picture of the Week | 2023 Jan 23

Two very bright stars with cross-shaped diffraction spikes are prominent: the larger is slightly lower-right of centre, the smaller lies towards the upper-left corner. Small red stars with short diffraction spikes are scattered around them. The background is covered nearly completely by gas: smoky, bright blue gas around the larger star in the centre and lower-right, and wispier red gas elsewhere.

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Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Bally, M. Robberto

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The bright variable star V 372 Orionis takes centre stage in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which has also captured a smaller companion star in the upper left of this image. Both stars lie in the Orion Nebula, a colossal region of star formation roughly 1450 light years from Earth.

V 372 Orionis is a particular type of variable star known as an Orion Variable. These young stars experience some tempestuous moods and growing pains, which are visible to astronomers as irregular variations in luminosity. Orion Variables are often associated with diffuse nebulae, and V 372 Orionis is no exception; the patchy gas and dust of the Orion Nebula pervade this scene.

This image overlays data from two of Hubble’s instruments. Data from the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) at infrared and visible wavelengths were layered to reveal rich details of this corner of the Orion Nebula. Hubble also left its own subtle signature on this astronomical portrait in the form of the diffraction spikes surrounding the bright stars. These prominent artefacts are created by starlight interacting with Hubble’s inner workings, and as a result they reveal hints of Hubble’s structure. The four spikes surrounding the stars in this image are created by four vanes inside Hubble supporting the telescope’s secondary mirror. The diffraction spikes of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), on the other hand, are six-pointed as a result of Webb’s hexagonal mirror segments and 3-legged support structure for the secondary mirror.

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LBN 437
https://www.astrobin.com/dpqrji/
Copyright: Robert Eder

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Cave Nebula (Sh2-155)
https://www.astrobin.com/230ysu/
Copyright: Robert Shepherd

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M23
https://www.astrobin.com/5c8nhf/
Copyright: Evangelos Souglakos

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NGC 7789
https://www.astrobin.com/9w0oau/B/
Copyright: Marcus Jungwirth

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Melotte 227
https://www.astrobin.com/tay7da/
Copyright: Patrick Dufour

[Ann]

WISE Telescope portrait of the entire sky
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-t ... entire-sky
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Click to view full size image

I came across this image a few days ago, and I was struck by how "straight and narrow" the middle part of our galaxy looks. The spiral arms flare out, that's true, but the large yellow "interior" (here false colored blue) seems remarkable undisturbed.

Perhaps we are living in a quiet corner of a quiet galaxy in a quiet part of the Universe?

Until Andromeda starts messing with us, I guess. (Unless the Large Magellanic Cloud upsets our balance first!)

Full write-up of the image and a video is here.

Ann

[bystander]

Pillar of Sunlight over ALMA
ESO Picture of the Week | 2023 Jan 30

C. Duran / ESO / ALMA

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This Picture of the Week shows the grand skies of the Chajnantor plateau in the Chilean Atacama desert. The rare sight of clouds in this typically dry and arid region creates a dramatic display of reds and blues, as well as a sun pillar –– an optical phenomenon caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere –– that emanates from the Sun in line with a telescope. This large antenna is a part of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), which is co-owned by ESO.

ALMA is one of the most powerful observatories in the world for radio astronomy. Its collection of 66 antennae — like the one pictured above — has been responsible for many incredible ground-breaking discoveries, including contributing to the creation of the first image of a black hole.

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Exploring a Turbulent Tarantula
ESA Hubble Picture of the Week | 2023 Jan 30

Wispy, nebulous clouds extend from the lower-left of the image. At the top and right the dark background of space can be seen through the sparse nebula. Along the left and in the corner are many layers of brightly-coloured gas and dark, obscuring dust. A cluster of small, bright blue stars in the same corner expands out across the image. Many much smaller stars cover the background.

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Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray, E. Sabbi; Acknowledgement: Y.-H. Chu

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A snapshot of the Tarantula Nebula (also known as 30 Doradus) is the most recent Picture of the Week from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The Tarantula Nebula is a large star-forming region of ionised hydrogen gas that lies 161 000 light years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and its turbulent clouds of gas and dust can be seen swirling between the region’s bright, newly-formed stars.

The Tarantula Nebula is a familiar site for Hubble. It is the brightest star-forming region in our galactic neighbourhood and home to the hottest, most massive stars known. This makes it a perfect natural laboratory in which to test out theories of star formation and evolution, and a rich variety of Hubble images of this region have been released to the public in recent years. The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope also recently delved into this region, revealing thousands of never-before-seen young stars.

This new image combines data from two different observing proposals. The first was designed to explore the properties of the dust grains that exist in the void between stars and which make up the dark clouds winding through this image. This proposal, which astronomers named Scylla, complements another Hubble observing proposal called Ulysses and is revealing how interstellar dust interacts with starlight in a variety of environments. This image also incorporates data from an observing programme studying star formation in conditions similar to the early Universe, as well as cataloguing the stars of the Tarantula Nebula for future science with Webb.

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A Spiral Amongst Thousands
ESA Webb Picture of the Month | 2023 Jan 31

Many stars and galaxies lie on a dark background, in a variety of colours but mostly shades of orange. Some galaxies are large enough to make out spiral arms. Along the bottom of the frame is a large, detailed spiral galaxy seen at an oblique angle, with another galaxy about one-quarter the size just beneath it. Both have a brightly glowing core, and areas of star formation which light up their spiral arms

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Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Martel

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A crowded field of galaxies throngs this Picture of the Month from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, along with bright stars crowned with Webb’s signature six-pointed diffraction spikes. The large spiral galaxy at the base of this image is accompanied by a profusion of smaller, more distant galaxies which range from fully-fledged spirals to mere bright smudges. Named LEDA 2046648, it is situated a little over a billion light-years from Earth, in the constellation Hercules.

One of Webb’s principle science goals is to observe distant — and hence ancient — galaxies to understand the details of their formation, evolution, and composition. Webb’s keen infrared vision helps the telescope peer back in time, as the light from older, more distant galaxies is redshifted towards infrared wavelengths. Comparing these galactic fossils to modern galaxies will help astronomers understand how galaxies grew to form the structures we see in the universe today. Webb will also probe the chemical composition of thousands of galaxies to shed light on how heavy elements were formed and built up as galaxies evolved.

To take full advantage of Webb’s potential for galaxy archeology, astronomers and engineers must first calibrate the telescope’s instruments and systems. Each of Webb’s instruments contains a labyrinthine array of mirrors and other optical elements that redirect and focus starlight gathered by Webb’s main mirror. This particular observation was part of the commissioning campaign for Webb’s Near-InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS). As well as performing science in its own right, NIRISS supports parallel observations with Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam). NIRCam captured this galaxy-studded image while NIRISS was observing the white dwarf WD1657+343, a well-studied star. This allows astronomers to interpret and compare data from the two different instruments, and to characterise the performance of NIRISS.