The Seagull Nebula (APOD 2009 March 27)

[neufer]

Seagull

Shouldn't this be called The Red Parrot Nebula?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218

<<Along with crows, ravens, and jays (family Corvidae), parrots are considered the most intelligent of birds. The brain-to body size ratio of psittacines and corvines is actually comparable to that of higher primates. One argument against the supposed intelligent capabilities of bird species is that birds have a relatively small cerebral cortex, which is the part of the brain considered to be the main area of intelligence in other animals. However, it seems that birds use a different part of their brain, the medio-rostral neostriatum/hyperstriatum ventrale, as the seat of their intelligence. Not surprisingly, research has shown that these species tend to have the largest hyperstriata, and Dr. Harvey J. Karten, a neuroscientist at UCSD who has studied the physiology of birds, discovered that the lower part of avian brains are functionally similar to ours. Species of parrot such as the Kea are also highly skilled at using tools and solving puzzles. Studies with the African Grey Parrot have shown that some are able to associate words with their meanings and form simple sentences.

Learning in early life is apparently important to all parrots, and much of that learning is social learning. Social interactions are often practised with siblings, and in several species creches are formed with several broods, and these as well are important for learning social skills. Foraging behaviour is generally learnt from parents, and can be a very protracted affair. Supra-generalists and specialists are generally independent of their parents much quicker than partly specialised species which may have to learn skills over a long period of time as various resources become seasonally available. Play forms a large part of learning in parrots, it can be solitary, and related to motor skills, or social. Species may engage in play fights or wild flights to practice predator evasion. An absence of stimuli can retard the development of young birds, as demonstrated by a group of Vasa Parrots kept in tiny cages with domesticated chickens from the age of 3 months; at 9 months these birds still behaved in the same way as 3 month olds, but had adopted some chicken behaviour. In a similar fashion captive birds in zoo collections or pets can, if deprived of stimuli, develop stereotyped behaviours and harmful behaviours like self plucking.>>

[aristarchusinexile]

Even before reading the title I could see the bird in this one, my first thought being Phoenix (sorry Arizona .. not thinking of you at first thought, but as a Canadian who doesn't like winter maybe I'll ride my moped your way come October.)

[neufer]

Gum 1
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<<Colin Stanley Gum (1924-1960) was an Australian astronomer who catalogued emission nebulae in the southern sky at the Mount Stromlo Observatory using wide field photography. Gum published his findings in 1955 in a study entitled A study of diffuse southern H-alpha nebulae which presented a catalog of 85 nebulae or nebular complexes. Gum 12, a huge area of nebulosity in the direction of the constellations Puppis and Vela, was later named the Gum Nebula in his honor. Gum was part of the team, whose number included Frank John Kerr and Gart Westerhout, that determined the precise position of the neutral hydrogen plane in space.

Gum died at age 36 (April 29, 1960) in a skiing accident in Zermatt, Switzerland.
The crater Gum on the Moon is named after him.>>

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<<Colin Gum at Australia's Mount Stromlo Commonwealth Observatory near Canberra took over an existing nebula photography project begun by Clabon "Cla" Walter Allen. C.W. Allen's involvement was a bit unusual. Mount Stromlo originated as a solar observatory, and Allen was known as a solar astronomer. Initially Gum and Allen were monitoring radio noise from the sun and then (for comparison) other galactic locations. Gum noted in his final survey:

• At the Commonwealth Observatory a survey for Hα emission nebulosities in the Southern Milky Way was begun by Dr. C.W. Allen in 1950, and continued and extended by the author since late in 1951. The original aim of the project was to obtain material for the discussion on the origin of galactic radio-noise considered as at least partly due to free-free transitions in the interstellar gas.

Allen left Australia in 1951 to become the director of the University of London Observatory. Ben Gascoigne became Gum's PhD supervisor. Gum decided to write his thesis on the HII regions and continued to photograph them using a 100 mm (4 inch) Schmidt camera. Gascoigne later recounted:

• Well, after he had written his thesis he had to go into hospital for medical treatment. During the year he was away, I had to supply all the references, and found that looking them up was a tedious and difficult job – I finished up knowing an awful lot about H-alpha regions myself!.

Gum thanked Gascoigne in his survey paper for "assistance in the preparation of the manuscript for this paper, the publication of which has been delayed owing to unforseen circumstances". Gascoigne provided more than help with the manuscript, however:

• When Colin put his thesis in, the two examiners were Woolley [the Stromlo director] and a Professor Plaskett at Oxford. Woolley came in one day and said, 'Gum has failed his PhD.' I think Plaskett was the snag, because he couldn't have known anything about the subject, but I don't think Woolley read the thesis properly, anyway. I don't want to sound too critical of Woolley, because he did a great deal for the Observatory, but he did have these idiosyncrasies. I was most indignant and very distressed that Colin had failed, because I thought he was really good ... I marched in and battled away as best I could until we were interrupted – I was truly thankful for that and went home, the matter quite unresolved. Next day I was back again, batting away, and I thought I made a bit of progress. And on the third day Woolley agreed to appoint a third examiner, Cla Allen, who was by that time in London. And so Colin got his PhD.

The contrast between Sharpless coolly examining plates taken by others at the great Palomar observatory and Gum struggling to have his own 4 inch camera images taken seriously could not be more extreme!>>

[eramirezt]

I have been visiting daily http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090327.html since - uf! many years -- but this is my first post - so bear with me. Who coins the names of the astronomical images.. The Seagull Nebula...? it looks to me more like a tortoise!

Efrain

[aristarchusinexile]

I have been visiting daily http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090327.html since - uf! many years -- but this is my first post - so bear with me. Who coins the names of the astronomical images.. The Seagull Nebula...? it looks to me more like a tortoise!

Efrain

So far we have three responses and three suggestions. I agree that it doesn't look much like a seagull, but perhaps whoever provided the title lives near the ocean.

[neufer]

I have been visiting daily http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090327.html since - uf! many years -- but this is my first post - so bear with me. Who coins the names of the astronomical images.. The Seagull Nebula...? it looks to me more like a tortoise!

So far we have three responses and three suggestions. I agree that it doesn't look much like a seagull, but perhaps whoever provided the title lives near the ocean.

It's probably named after one a these guys:

Steven Seagal (b. 1951), American action movie actor
George Segal (b. 1934), American actor
Jerry Siegel, (1914-1996), American co-creator of Superman
Bugsy Siegel, (1906-1947), Jewish American Gangster
Marc Chagall, (1887-1985), Russian-Jewish Painter

[Frenchy]

I'd say it looks like the guy that carries the fleece, but what do I know?

[orin stepanek]

It's probably not bright enough; but for the amount of space it takes in the sky , we ought to be able to see it with naked eyes. Alas; my naked eyes don't see that good anyhow.

Orin

[apodman]

Woman with bowling ball:

[BMAONE23]

It's probably not bright enough; but for the amount of space it takes in the sky , we ought to be able to see it with naked eyes. Alas; my naked eyes don't see that good anyhow.

Orin

Someone needs to invent some glasses that allow us to see these wonders directly instead of just through images.
Imagine donning some specs and turning your face to the sky and seeing Bernards Loop and the Horse Head without the need for Deep Imaging.

[aristarchusinexile]

I have been visiting daily http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090327.html since - uf! many years -- but this is my first post - so bear with me. Who coins the names of the astronomical images.. The Seagull Nebula...? it looks to me more like a tortoise!

So far we have three responses and three suggestions. I agree that it doesn't look much like a seagull, but perhaps whoever provided the title lives near the ocean.

It's probably named after one a these guys:

Steven Seagal (b. 1951), American action movie actor
George Segal (b. 1934), American actor
Jerry Siegel, (1914-1996), American co-creator of Superman
Bugsy Siegel, (1906-1947), Jewish American Gangster
Marc Chagall, (1887-1985), Russian-Jewish Painter

Or Johnathan Livingston Seagull. Or Gertrude and Heathcliffe.

[bongman]

Even before reading the title I could see the bird in this one, my first thought being Phoenix (sorry Arizona .. not thinking of you at first thought, but as a Canadian who doesn't like winter maybe I'll ride my moped your way come October.)

It would be a nice place to winter vacation...... and the astrophotos I've seen from there, ...... there's luggage room in my civic this winter haha

[neufer]

I have been visiting daily http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090327.html since - uf! many years -- but this is my first post - so bear with me. Who coins the names of the astronomical images.. The Seagull Nebula...? it looks to me more like a tortoise!

It's probably named after one a these guys:
Steven Seagal (b. 1951), American action movie actor
George Segal (b. 1934), American actor
Jerry Siegel, (1914-1996), American co-creator of Superman
Bugsy Siegel, (1906-1947), Jewish American Gangster
Marc Chagall, (1887-1985), Russian-Jewish Painter

Or Johnathan Livingston Seagull. Or Gertrude and Heathcliffe.

That's what http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090323.html looks like!
RED Skelton as Gertrude and/or Heathcliffe.

[aristarchusinexile]

RED Skelton as Gertrude and/or Heathcliffe.

The RED link doesn't seem to be working, Neuf.

And now, heres Gertrude and Heathcliffe. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... D=21402759