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ESO: Comet NEOWISE Spotted above ESO Headquarters
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:42 pm
by bystander
Comet NEOWISE Spotted above ESO Headquarters
ESO Picture of the Week | 2020 Jul 13
A comet from the outer reaches of the Solar System, nicknamed NEOWISE, was photographed by two ESO staff members — who are also keen astrophotographers — on 8 July 2020 in the skies over the
ESO Supernova and
ESO Headquarters in Garching, Germany. This rare treat was also accompanied by another night-time phenomena: the very unusual
noctilucent clouds — shiny, icy clouds that look remarkably like water ripples in the night sky.
Officially called
C/2020 F3, NEOWISE was first discovered by the
NASA NEOWISE space mission in March this year. It is expected to dim as the month goes on, but to remain visible to the naked eye throughout July. It will reach its closest point to Earth on 23 July, at a distance of just over 100 million km.
The comet’s spectacular bright tail is caused by heat from the Sun, which is evaporating the outer layers of the icy comet. In fact, NEOWISE has already survived its closest encounter with our Sun, on 3 July 2020. There is still a risk that it will fracture as it slingshots away from the Sun’s heat. If it remains intact, it will journey back to the icy outer regions of our Solar System, and is not expected to return for approximately another 6800 years.
HEIC: A frEGGs-cellent Discovery
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:59 pm
by bystander
A frEGGs-cellent Discovery
ESA Hubble Picture of the Week | 2020 Jul 13
Galaxies are well known as the birthplaces of stars and planets thanks to the overwhelmingly large amount of dust and gas within them. Over time, cold gas coalesces into
molecular clouds, leading to the further emergence of star-forming regions.
This image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope depicts a fantastic new class of star-forming nursery, known as Free-floating Evaporating Gaseous Globules, or
frEGGs for short. This object, known as J025027.7+600849, is located in the constellation of
Cassiopeia.
When a massive new star (or stars) starts to shine while still within the cool molecular cloud from which it formed, its energetic radiation can ionise the cloud’s hydrogen and create a large, hot
bubble of ionised gas. Amazingly, located within this bubble of hot gas around a nearby massive star are the
frEGGs: dark compact globules of dust and gas, some of which are also giving birth to low-mass stars. The boundary between the cool, dusty frEGG and hot gas bubble is seen as the glowing purple/blue edges in this fascinating image.
Learning more about these odd objects can help astronomers understand how stars like our Sun form under external influences. In fact, our Sun may have even been born in a frEGG!
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 9:48 am
by starsurfer
Ann wrote: ↑Thu Jul 09, 2020 4:36 pm
Fascinating!
Unlike you, starsurfer, I am of course more interested in the bright blue star to the right of the planetary than I am in the planetary itself.
Is that a reflection nebula surrounding that blue star, or is that just a photographic effect?
Ann
Considering there is a lot of dust in this region, it is likely to be an unknown and uncatalogued reflection nebula. There are quite a few faint reflection nebulae that have gone unrecognised and therefore not catalogued.
Re: HEIC: A frEGGs-cellent Discovery
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 9:49 am
by starsurfer
bystander wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:59 pm
A frEGGs-cellent Discovery
ESA Hubble Picture of the Week | 2020 Jul 13
Galaxies are well known as the birthplaces of stars and planets thanks to the overwhelmingly large amount of dust and gas within them. Over time, cold gas coalesces into
molecular clouds, leading to the further emergence of star-forming regions.
This image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope depicts a fantastic new class of star-forming nursery, known as Free-floating Evaporating Gaseous Globules, or
frEGGs for short. This object, known as J025027.7+600849, is located in the constellation of
Cassiopeia.
When a massive new star (or stars) starts to shine while still within the cool molecular cloud from which it formed, its energetic radiation can ionise the cloud’s hydrogen and create a large, hot
bubble of ionised gas. Amazingly, located within this bubble of hot gas around a nearby massive star are the
frEGGs: dark compact globules of dust and gas, some of which are also giving birth to low-mass stars. The boundary between the cool, dusty frEGG and hot gas bubble is seen as the glowing purple/blue edges in this fascinating image.
Learning more about these odd objects can help astronomers understand how stars like our Sun form under external influences. In fact, our Sun may have even been born in a frEGG!
This is the most amazing thing I have seen today! It so reminds me of a comet! The other odd coincidence is that I had a fried egg for breakfast!
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 9:53 am
by starsurfer
Helix Nebula (NGC 7293)
https://www.astrobin.com/68erv1/B/
Copyright: Dan Pelzel
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 9:55 am
by starsurfer
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 9:58 am
by starsurfer
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 10:01 am
by starsurfer
Kemble's Cascade, NGC 1501 and NGC 1502
https://www.astrobin.com/sokfzy/
Copyright: Idir Saci
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:16 am
by starsurfer
IC 1438
http://www.chart32.de/index.php/component/k2/item/379
Copyright: CHART32
Processing: Bernd Flach-Wilken
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 12:52 pm
by nvc123
Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE
http://www.astro-hp.dk/
Copyright: Niels V. Christensen
The Comet was taken in a heavy light polluted area, less than 10km from the citycenter of Copenhagen, Denmark called Amager.
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2020 1:28 pm
by starsurfer
Hydra Galaxy Cluster (Abell 1060)
http://www.karelteuwen.be/photo_page.ph ... 8&album=18
Copyright: Karel Teuwen
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 1:18 pm
by starsurfer
HEIC: A Discovery of Ghostly Arms (NGC 4848)
Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 4:47 pm
by bystander
A Discovery of Ghostly Arms
ESA Hubble Picture of the Week | 2020 Jul 20
A notable feature of most
spiral galaxies is the multitude of arching spiral arms that seemingly spin out from the galaxy’s centre. In this image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the stunning silvery-blue spiral arms of the galaxy
NGC 4848 are observed in immense detail. Not only do we see the inner section of the spiral arms containing hundreds of thousands of young, bright, blue stars, but Hubble has also captured the extremely faint wispy tails of the outer spiral arms.
This wispy
barred spiral galaxy was first discovered in 1865 by the German astronomer
Heinrich Louis d’Arrest. In his career, Heinrich also notably discovered the asteroid
76 Freia and many other galaxies and he also contributed to the
discovery of Neptune.
If you are situated in the
Northern Hemisphere with a large telescope, you might just be able to observe the ghost-like appearance of this faint galaxy within faint constellation of
Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair).
ESO: Sunset over Atacama
Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 4:56 pm
by bystander
Sunset over Atacama
ESO Picture of the Week | 2020 Jul 20
This outstanding picture taken in Chile’s Atacama Desert shows the Sun setting behind three of the four unit telescopes of ESO's Very Large Telescope (
VLT). The prime observing conditions are due to the location of the observatory. At an altitude of 2600m, ESO’s
Paranal Observatory is hosted in one of the driest areas in the world, with incredibly clear skies.
Taken only a dozen minutes after sunset, stars already scatter across the cloudless sky in this image. The bright star
Sirius is visible, while the famous constellation of
Orion, the hunter, hovers over the dome of the unit telescope in the foreground. As the darkness deepens, the starry skies will be revealed in more and more detail, until the conditions are perfect for world-leading science observations.
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 12:08 pm
by Otrow
Story: When my brother and I head to Lika on Lake Štikada(Croatia) , we have nothing to do but really marvel and enjoy the view of our universe! <3
It was hard to photograph the panorama of milky-way because it is quite high, but I managed .. I must tell you that I am honored to share this experience with you! Panorama of milky way with a meteor that came across and comet NEOWISE! <3: D
Exif: 11 mm 20 '' ISO 5000 f2.8
The panorama consists of 20 vertical photos. I photographed each 3 times and stacked.
So a total of 60 photos
https://www.facebook.com/otrowphotograp ... =3&theater
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 12:58 pm
by starsurfer
NGC 3184
https://www.astrobin.com/so6t7a/
Copyright: Chris Sullivan
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 1:00 pm
by starsurfer
NGC 3344
https://www.astrobin.com/6qrjdq/
Copyright: Uros Gorjanc
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 1:02 pm
by starsurfer
Antennae (NGC 4038-9)
https://www.astrobin.com/org5zd/
Copyright: Nicolas Rolland
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 1:05 pm
by starsurfer
M3
https://www.astrobin.com/ppb635/D/
Copyright: Victor Van Puyenbroeck
AAS: Smashing Spheres of Ice
Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2020 6:44 pm
by bystander
Smashing Spheres of Ice
AAS NOVA | Featured Image | 2020 Jul 20
Susanna Kohler wrote:
You’re looking at a frozen, hollow shell of ice roughly 20 cm in diameter and 3 cm thick. In a new laboratory study, scientists Kathryn Harriss and Mark Burchell (University of Kent, UK) have studied what happens when a shell like this is shot with a small, high-speed projectile, causing the ice shell to explode into pieces. You can watch a slow motion video of their experiment below!
This process simulates the possible high-speed collisions and catastrophic disruptions of icy bodies — like the frozen moons of Saturn and Jupiter — in the early solar system. By exploring how a hollow ice sphere responds to impact, Harriss and Burchell hope to better understand the relative roles of a body’s core and its surface layers in determining what happens during a catastrophic disruption. Which is more important in a collision: an icy object’s crust or its core? Check out the original article, linked below, for more information on what the authors learned.
Catastrophic Disruption of Hollow Ice Spheres ~ Kathryn H. Harriss, Mark J. Burchell
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2020 1:38 pm
by starsurfer
M53
http://www.capella-observatory.com/Imag ... rs/M53.htm
Copyright: Stefan Binnewies, Rainer Sparenberg and Josef Pöpsel
ESO: (Sub)millimetre Stargazers (ALMA)
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:09 pm
by bystander
(Sub)millimetre Stargazers
ESO Picture of the Week | 2020 Jul 27
The bright sky above Chile’s Chajnantor plateau is sliced in two by the vast, vibrant ripple of the Milky Way. Here in the southern hemisphere, the magnificently rich centre of our galaxy is often directly overhead, its brilliant cloudy length stretching from horizon to horizon. Beneath its glow, a cluster of white antennas peers keenly up at the sky, illuminated by a bright yellow light that indicates to technicians whether or not it is safe to approach.
These telescopes are part of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (
ALMA), a giant
interferometer made up of 66 individual antennas. These antennas work together over distances of up to 16 kilometres to study the Universe in remarkable detail.
ALMA is designed to “see” light invisible to the human eye — at wavelengths of around a millimetre, between
infrared light and
radio waves. Such light comes from the coldest and most distant places in the Universe — such as vast clouds of gas and dust in interstellar space, and the most ancient galaxies — allowing ALMA to explore how stars and planets form and evolve.
Although these wavelengths can reveal never-before-seen objects and processes, (sub)millimetre astronomy has its difficulties. This light is heavily absorbed by water vapour in the Earth’s atmosphere, and thus struggles to reach the ground. In order to do this kind of astronomy, telescopes must be built on very high, dry sites; the Chajnantor plateau, located at an altitude of over 5000 metres in the Chilean Andes, is therefore an ideal location for ALMA.
HEIC: Stellar Sweet Shop (NGC 2203)
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:17 pm
by bystander
Stellar Sweet Shop
ESA Hubble Picture of the Week | 2020 Jul 27
Looking its best ever is the star cluster
NGC 2203, here imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Aside from its dazzling good looks, this
cluster of stars contains lots of astronomical treats that have helped astronomers puzzle together the lifetimes of stars.
A
main sequence star, like our Sun, is the term applied to a star during the longest period of its life, when it burns fuel steadily. Our Sun’s fuel will run out in approximately 6 billion years, and it will then move on to the next stage of its life when it will turn into a
red giant. Astronomers studying NGC 2203, which contains stars that are roughly twice as massive as our Sun, found that their rotation might be a factor as to why some of the stars stay longer than usual in this main-sequence phase of their life.
This is the best resolution obtained of the
star cluster to date.
Re: HEIC: Stellar Sweet Shop (NGC 2203)
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 6:06 pm
by Ann
bystander wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:17 pm
Stellar Sweet Shop
ESA Hubble Picture of the Week | 2020 Jul 27
Looking its best ever is the star cluster
NGC 2203, here imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Aside from its dazzling good looks, this
cluster of stars contains lots of astronomical treats that have helped astronomers puzzle together the lifetimes of stars.
A
main sequence star, like our Sun, is the term applied to a star during the longest period of its life, when it burns fuel steadily. Our Sun’s fuel will run out in approximately 6 billion years, and it will then move on to the next stage of its life when it will turn into a
red giant. Astronomers studying NGC 2203, which contains stars that are roughly twice as massive as our Sun, found that their rotation might be a factor as to why some of the stars stay longer than usual in this main-sequence phase of their life.
This is the best resolution obtained of the
star cluster to date.
Wow, that's an amazing cluster!
It has been called both
an open cluster and
a globular cluster. It looks for all the world like a globular cluster to me. Is it possible for an open cluster to contain
so many stars? Or is NGC 2203 so metal-rich that astronomers hesitate to use the same designation for it that is used for old metal-poor vast congregations of stars?
How old is NGC 2203?
Sci News calls it "an intermediate-age open cluster". What's an intermediate-age open cluster?
NGC 188 is one of the oldest open clusters of the Milky Way. According to
Wikipedia, it is 6.8 billion years old. This is very old for an open cluster. So how old is an intermediate-age open cluster? 3 billion years? 2 billion years?
Okay, answer: According to arXiv paper
Nearly coeval intermediate-age Milky Way star clusters at very different dynamics evolutionary stages by Andrés E. Piatti, Mateus S. Angelo and Wilton S. Dias, an intermediate-age cluster is
0.8 - 4 billion years old.
On the other hand, 6.8 billion years is pretty young for a "true" globular cluster. I don't think the Milky Way has any globulars this young.
NGC 2203 is an outlier of the Large Magellanic Cloud. I'm not surprised. A cluster as magnificent as this one would have been well known already if it had been a Milky Way cluster.
Ann
Re: Found Images: 2020 July
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 1:41 pm
by starsurfer