Starship Asterisk*

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081113.html

I'll get this in before Neufer does...

[Originally written in 1919 by Jaan Kenbrovin (James Kendis, James Brockman, and Nat Vincent) and John William Kellette]

I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air,
They fly so high, nearly reach the sky,
Then like my dreams they fade and die.
Fortune's always hiding,
I've looked everywhere,
I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air.

I'm dreaming dreams, I'm scheming schemes,
I'm building castles high.
They're born anew, their days are few,
Just like a sweet butterfly.
And as the daylight is dawning,
They come again in the morning!

[Chorus]

When shadows creep, when I'm asleep,
To lands of hope I stray!
Then at daybreak, when I awake,
My bluebird flutters away.
Happiness, you seem so near me,
Happiness, come forth and cheer me!

[Chorus]


On a more serious note.
The lower right sector of the 'bubble' looks to be broken up a little, like layers separating. Is this indicative of a planetary nebula 'shock wave' experiencing matter in space which is slowing down certain sections of it and separating them from the rest?

Fantastic picture by the way.

Andy Wade wrote:http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081113.html
I'll get this in before Neufer does...

You've forced me to get Sirius for a change.

Clearly this is a new object with unusually perfect symmetry.

It must, IMO, be the result of gaseous fluorescence from a sudden electromagnetic radiation burst.

The question is when will this burst get here (and what will be the effects)?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetar

The Thing from Another World (1951)
Ned "Scotty" Scott: Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SGR_ ... lPrint.jpg

<<"Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. ">>

my bold

excerpt from excerpt: http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics ... e_dot.html

Here's another bubble!

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap061018.html

Orin

My Cousin Vinny (1992) wrote:

neufer wrote:http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081113.html

Clearly this is a new object with unusually perfect symmetry.

It must, IMO, be the result of gaseous fluorescence from a sudden electromagnetic radiation burst.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SGR_ ... lPrint.jpg

The question is when will this burst get here (and what will be the effects)?

D.A. Jim Trotter: Now, uh, Ms. Vito, being an expert on general automotive knowledge, can you tell me... what would the correct ignition timing be on a 1955 Bel Air Chevrolet, with a 327 cubic-inch engine and a four-barrel carburetor?

Mona Lisa Vito: It's a bullsh*t question.

D.A. Jim Trotter: Does that mean that you can't answer it?

Mona Lisa Vito: It's a bullsh*t question, it's impossible to answer.

D.A. Jim Trotter: Impossible because you don't know the answer!

Mona Lisa Vito: Nobody could answer that question!

D.A. Jim Trotter: Your Honor, I move to disqualify Ms. Vito as a "expert witness"!

Judge Chamberlain Haller: Can you answer the question?

Mona Lisa Vito: No, it is a trick question!

Judge Chamberlain Haller: Why is it a trick question?

Mona Lisa Vito: 'Cause Chevy didn't make a 327 in '55, the 327 didn't come out till '62. And it wasn't offered in the Bel Air with a four-barrel carb till '64. However, in 1964, the correct ignition timing would be four degrees before top-dead-center.

When will this [gamma ray] burst get here (and what will be the effects)?
is a trick question since the gamma ray burst MUST have ALREADY arrived here.

What we must be observing an expanding parabolic gaseous fluorescence light echo shell
of a recently observed gamma-ray burst that is
reminiscent of an expanding parabolic light reflection echo shell of V838 Monoceros:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080203.html
http://www.ing.iac.es/PR/AR2003/romano.jpg
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=j2NvAPSwUc0

However, since the gamma-ray burst progenitor lies far beyond the Cygnus gas cloud
the focal point of this expanding parabolic gaseous fluorescence light echo shell is now the earth.

Since the entire parabolic shell intersecting the Cygnus gas cloud
almost lies along our line of sight it appears as a simple circle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray_burst
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray_ ... rogenitors

orin stepanek wrote:Here's another bubble!
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap061018.html

It ain't the same thing at all:
1) non-spherical
2) full of structure.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081113.html
is just a parabolic shell (with the earth at its focus)
which is expanding faster than the speed of light.

In the shell's center lies a far distant gamma-ray burst progenitor...
(possibly a bad witch).

neufer wrote:

orin stepanek wrote:Here's another bubble!
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap061018.html

It ain't the same thing at all:
1) non-spherical
2) full of structure.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081113.html
is just a parabolic shell (with the earth at its focus)
which is expanding faster than the speed of light.

In the shell's center lies a far distant gamma-ray burst progenitor...
(possibly a bad witch).

OTOH:


http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010123.html

<<Explanation: One of the largest spheres in our Galaxy is giving valuable clues about the chemical composition of stars by its very shape. Planetary nebula Abell 39, now six light-years across, was once a sun-like star's outer atmosphere expelled thousands of years ago. The nearly perfect spherical nature of Abell 39 allows astronomers to accurately estimate how much relative material is actually absorbing and emitting light. Observations indicate that Abell 39 contains only about half of the oxygen found in the Sun, an intriguing but not surprising confirmation of the chemical differences between stars. The reason why the central star is slightly off center by 0.1 light-years is currently unknown. Abell 39 lies about 7000 light years away, although several galaxies millions of light years away can be seen through and around the nebula.>>
-------------------------------------------------------
http://www.lostvalleyobservatory.com/review.nebula1/

<<Other sources of prior information were also carefully checked. These sources include the Palomar Sky Survey images and the Harvard ADS abstract database, and other sources (this is detailed in the link: http://www.lostvalleyobservatory.com/iaupncyg ), as requested by Dan Green of the IAU. Based on this information the “Bubble” discovered near the Crescent Nebula may be an undesignated object. It has been suggested, by Dr. Ringwald, that this could be a Wolf-Rayet bubble (like the Crescent Nebula), a true “Bubble Nebula” (such as NGC 7635),
or an unusually symmetrical planetary nebula (such as Abell 39).

Determining whether the object is designated is still ongoing as of August 9, 2008.

The “Bubble” had a rich Ha and OIII content, accounting for the teal appearance. The globular Ha region below the “Bubble” has been imaged and designated previously, as shown on the plot map above (as “HII rich regions”). >>
-------------------------------------------------------

I'm just a caual viewer of the APOD. Today I saw a picture of what was called a Bubble in Cygnus Nebula. You might not believe this and/or you might not care. But in the early to mid 60's and in my late teens, my family and I saw an identical Bubble (although I'm sure much smaller) in the sky's over S.W. Miami. It was around 6pm and very clear. The Bubble was STATIONARY for about 15 to 20 minutes. It was translucent and a perfect sphere. I was so excited to see this phenomenon I went to show a friend a few miles away. By the time I got to his house, It was gone. I've always wondered what it was.
Todays picture reminded me of that day. Anyone have any idea what we saw??? Thanks JSM

Maybe it was a clear blimp meant to promote clear tires to make your car look like it was flying. Maybe the government bought the patents and destroyed the formula.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081113.html

I clicked on the unknown nebula link in the APOD description, and there I saw two photos. By their titles I get the idea that I should be able to correlate the two photos and locate common points of reference. But after much searching, rotating, scaling, and conceiving in my head, I'm lost. Anyone?

apodman wrote:I clicked on the unknown nebula link in the APOD description, and there I saw two photos. By their titles I get the idea that I should be able to correlate the two photos and locate common points of reference. But after much searching, rotating, scaling, and conceiving in my head, I'm lost. Anyone?

Make sure you are looking at the full size images. Start with the image centered on the Crescent. Way down in the bottom left hand corner, look for a small, dark, linear blob... something like what you see after a staple has been removed. See that? Just to the right of it is the new nebula, about a quarter the size of the Crescent. That "staple blob" is what you see in the lower image, underneath the new nebula. The lower image is rotated about 45° CCW with respect to the Crescent image.

If you still don't see it, I can post an image.

Thanks, Chris, I see it now. Very subtle. No wonder it stayed unknown for so long. And then it was co-discovered 11 days apart? That's the kind of thing I more associate with comets that become more detectable by the day. In this case I think of quite a coincidence, and I muse that the co-discoverers might have bought the same new filter.

Now that you know about where to look, try to find it here
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081107.html

Even more subtle.

BMAONE23 wrote:Now that you know about where to look, try to find it here
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081107.html

Very easy to see when you know what you are looking for. But I don't think there's any way it could have been discovered from this image alone. It doesn't look any different than all the other density variations in a huge nebular region. For that you need the much higher resolution of the discovery images.

Have to agree with you there...The regional images aren't a great place to look to find very small undiscovered nebulae, unless you know where to look......but then of course you wouldn't be looking for undiscovered nebulae.

Some more images where it can be readily seen:

http://www.astrosurf.com/brego-sky/nebu ... hbours.jpg (August 2008)
http://www.btlguce.com/images/NMSImages ... Scolor.jpg (June 2005)
http://dg-imaging.astrodon.com/gallery/ ... m?imgID=85 (May 2007)
http://mayda.com/astro/NGC6888_Crescent.html (July 2006)

emc wrote:

<<"Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. ">>
excerpt from excerpt: http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics ... e_dot.html

------------------------------------------------------------------
Keith B Quattrocchi MD, PhD and Mel Helm, MD September 9, 2008
http://www.lostvalleyobservatory.com/iaupncyg/
<<Finally, I have included an image of the central blue star, which we found with the assistance of Dana Patchick (who works with Dr. Jacoby of the WIYN Observatory). The coordinates of the star are a near exact match to the geometric center of the "bubble" (PN or, less likely, Wolf-Rayet Nebula). The image is shown below. It is a tri-layered composit of RGB, Ha and Luminance data. The star is also blue on the pure RGB images. Details of the image are available at http://www.lostvalleyobservatory.com/pa ... enterstar/ . >>

----------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subdwarf

<<Hot subdwarfs, of spectral types B and O, also termed "extreme horizontal branch stars" are an entirely different class of objects to cool subdwarfs. These stars represent a late stage in the evolution of some stars, caused when a red giant star loses its outer hydrogen layers before the core begins to fuse helium. Subdwarf B stars, being more luminous than white dwarfs, are a significant component in the hot star population of old stellar systems, such as globular clusters and elliptical galaxies.>>
----------------------------------
<<Abell 39 is a low surface brightness [spherical] planetary nebula in the constellation of Hercules.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abell_39
.....................................................

Diameter: 155″ ~ 3 x Jupiter
Apparent magnitude : 13.7 ~ Pluto
.....................................................
It is estimated to be about 6,800 light-years from earth and 4,600 light-years above the Galactic plane. It is almost perfectly spherical and also one of the largest known spheres with a radius of about 2.5 light-years. Its central star is slightly west of center by about 2″ or 0.1 light-years. The mass of the central star is estimated to be about 0.61 M☉ with the material in the planetary nebula comprising an additional 0.6 M☉. This planetary nebula has been expanding for an estimated 22,100 years, based on an assumed expansion velocity between 32 and 37 km/s. Oxygen is only about half as abundant in the nebula as it is in our own sun.>>
----------------------------------------

neufer wrote:

A nice find. I find the apparent "Green" stars at 7(bottom right corner), 8(bottom left corner), & 10(upper center adj to white star) o'clock interesting too

BMAONE23 wrote:I find the apparent "Green" stars at 7(bottom right corner), 8(bottom left corner), & 10(upper center adj to white star) o'clock interesting too

Those are stars with a high percentage of their output in H-alpha, perhaps red dwarfs. They would appear quite red in a normal RGB image.

So.

Was this a new find or did someone come up with a catalogue id?