Starship Asterisk*

starsurfer wrote:Vela Supernova Remnant
http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/Vela-DSS.html
Copyright: Robert Gendler
Data: Digitized Sky Survey

Vela.jpg

[img3="Credit: John Colosimo (colosimophotography.com)/ESO"]http://cdn.eso.org/images/screen/potw1549a.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]

This stunning panorama shows the Milky Way galaxy arching above the platform of ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, Chile. At 2635 metres above sea level, Paranal Observatory is one of the very best astronomical observing sites in the world and is the flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy. The extent of our galaxy's cloudy and dusty structure can be seen in remarkable detail as a dim glowing band across the observation deck.

From Earth, we see the Milky Way as a band across the sky because from our vantage point in one of its spiral arms we are seeing its disc-shaped structure edge-on as we peer towards its centre. Our galaxy is surrounded by several smaller satellite galaxies. Prominent here, to the left, are the Small Magellanic Cloud and Large Magellanic Cloud — dwarf galaxies which are members of our Local Group of galaxies.

The VLT consists of four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes (UTs) and four 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) which can be used together to form the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). ...

[img3="Credit: NASA & ESA/Hubble
Acknowledgements: Judy Schmidt (geckzilla.com)"]http://cdn.spacetelescope.org/archives/ ... w1549a.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]

Only rarely does an astronomical object have a political association. However, the spiral galaxy NGC 7252 acquired exactly that when it was given an unusual nickname.

In December 1953, the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave a speech advocating the use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes. This “Atoms for Peace” speech was significant for the scientific community, as it brought nuclear research into the public domain, and NGC 7252, which has a superficial resemblance to an atomic nucleus surrounded by the loops of electronic orbits, was dubbed the Atoms for Peace galaxy in honour of this. These loops are well visible in a wider field of view image.

This nickname is quite ironic, as the galaxy’s past was anything but peaceful. Its peculiar appearance is the result of a collision between two galaxies that took place about a billion years ago, which ripped both galaxies apart. The loop-like outer structures, likely made up of dust and stars flung outwards by the crash, but recalling orbiting electrons in an atom, are partly responsible for the galaxy’s nickname.

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the inner parts of the galaxy, revealing a pinwheel-shaped disc that is rotating in a direction opposite to the rest of the galaxy. This disc resembles a spiral galaxy like our own galaxy, the Milky Way, but is only about 10 000 light-years across — about a tenth of the size of the Milky Way. It is believed that this whirling structure is a remnant of the galactic collision. It will most likely have vanished in a few billion years’ time, when NGC 7252 will have completed its merging process.

bystander wrote:Galactic Politics (Atoms for Peace, NGC 7252)
ESA Hubble Picture of the Week | 2015 Dec 07

[img3="Credit: NASA & ESA/Hubble
Acknowledgements: Judy Schmidt (geckzilla.com)"]http://cdn.spacetelescope.org/archives/ ... w1549a.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]

Only rarely does an astronomical object have a political association. However, the spiral galaxy NGC 7252 acquired exactly that when it was given an unusual nickname.

In December 1953, the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave a speech advocating the use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes. This “Atoms for Peace” speech was significant for the scientific community, as it brought nuclear research into the public domain, and NGC 7252, which has a superficial resemblance to an atomic nucleus surrounded by the loops of electronic orbits, was dubbed the Atoms for Peace galaxy in honour of this. These loops are well visible in a wider field of view image.

This nickname is quite ironic, as the galaxy’s past was anything but peaceful. Its peculiar appearance is the result of a collision between two galaxies that took place about a billion years ago, which ripped both galaxies apart. The loop-like outer structures, likely made up of dust and stars flung outwards by the crash, but recalling orbiting electrons in an atom, are partly responsible for the galaxy’s nickname.

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the inner parts of the galaxy, revealing a pinwheel-shaped disc that is rotating in a direction opposite to the rest of the galaxy. This disc resembles a spiral galaxy like our own galaxy, the Milky Way, but is only about 10 000 light-years across — about a tenth of the size of the Milky Way. It is believed that this whirling structure is a remnant of the galactic collision. It will most likely have vanished in a few billion years’ time, when NGC 7252 will have completed its merging process.

Ann wrote:...
I couldn't make that link work, bystander. But I think this is the image you wanted to show. A larger image is here. ...

bystander wrote:

Ann wrote:...
I couldn't make that link work, bystander. But I think this is the image you wanted to show. A larger image is here. ...

I don't know to which link you are referring, but geckzilla's image is not the ESA Hubble POTW.

bystander wrote:Galactic Politics (Atoms for Peace, NGC 7252)
ESA Hubble Picture of the Week | 2015 Dec 07

[img3="Credit: NASA & ESA/Hubble
Acknowledgements: Judy Schmidt (geckzilla.com)"]http://cdn.spacetelescope.org/archives/ ... w1549a.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]

Only rarely does an astronomical object have a political association. However, the spiral galaxy NGC 7252 acquired exactly that when it was given an unusual nickname.

In December 1953, the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave a speech advocating the use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes. This “Atoms for Peace” speech was significant for the scientific community, as it brought nuclear research into the public domain, and NGC 7252, which has a superficial resemblance to an atomic nucleus surrounded by the loops of electronic orbits, was dubbed the Atoms for Peace galaxy in honour of this. These loops are well visible in a wider field of view image.

This nickname is quite ironic, as the galaxy’s past was anything but peaceful. Its peculiar appearance is the result of a collision between two galaxies that took place about a billion years ago, which ripped both galaxies apart. The loop-like outer structures, likely made up of dust and stars flung outwards by the crash, but recalling orbiting electrons in an atom, are partly responsible for the galaxy’s nickname.

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the inner parts of the galaxy, revealing a pinwheel-shaped disc that is rotating in a direction opposite to the rest of the galaxy. This disc resembles a spiral galaxy like our own galaxy, the Milky Way, but is only about 10 000 light-years across — about a tenth of the size of the Milky Way. It is believed that this whirling structure is a remnant of the galactic collision. It will most likely have vanished in a few billion years’ time, when NGC 7252 will have completed its merging process.

Ann wrote:

Adam Block has posted a beautiful new image of NGC 521.

Full size image is here.

Ann