Starship Asterisk*

NGC 602 and Beyond

Explanation: Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies 5 million year young star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by natal gas and dust, NGC 602 is featured in this stunning Hubble image of the region, augmented by images in the X-ray by Chandra, and in the infrared by Spitzer. Fantastic ridges and swept back shapes strongly suggest that energetic radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation moving away from the cluster's center. At the estimated distance of the Small Magellanic Cloud, the Picture spans about 200 light-years, but a tantalizing assortment of background galaxies are also visible in this sharp multi-colored view. The background galaxies are hundreds of millions of light-years or more beyond NGC 602.

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The nebula surrounding young star cluster NGC 602 sure looks like a gaping shark about to gobble up the stars it has hatched as if they were some hapless fish. In reality, of course, it is the other way round, and it is the stars that are eating away at the nebula.





















I love the picture of NGC 602 because it really shows how a burst of star formation forms a few bright and a multitude of small faint stars. You rarely see that in pictures of star clusters, but that is what star formation is like.

Ann

Are many of the background galaxies part of a single cluster or are we just seeing a line of sight effect?

This is absolutely awesome. Far more than just the beauty of the visible, there is the overwhelming sense of the energy that is at work in this star forming region. Add to that the diversity of background galaxies and it makes me feel a bit small when considering the millions/billions of years involved and the same in distance.

I have a similar question to ptahhotep: for so many galaxies to be in this line of sight, are they in another cluster? and/or along one of the strings even of the Local Group, or at least the Virgo Supercluster?

Looks like the Baby stars join the baby's face as they burn out of the
dust cloud in SMC!

orin stepanek wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2020 3:13 pm
Looks like the Baby stars join the baby's face
as they burn out of the dust cloud in SMC!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurybates wrote:
<<Eurybates, from Ithaca, served as Odysseus's squire and herald. He was described by Odysseus to Penelope as "round-shouldered, dark-skinned, and curly-haired." Odysseus is said to pay him greater regard than any other of his companions for his honesty and faithfulness.>>

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... 42#p298672

I don't recall ever seeing a repeat. Are they common? I have been visiting this site for about five years and this is the first time I remember one happening.

The deja vu moment is from this image : https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180324.html

Gomez Addams wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2020 10:21 pm I don't recall ever seeing a repeat. Are they common? I have been visiting this site for about five years and this is the first time I remember one happening.

The deja vu moment is from this image : https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180324.html

Sunday APODs are virtually always repeats. And they slip in occasionally when the editors are out of town or otherwise lacking in time to prepare a fresh one.

Leon1949Green wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2020 3:12 pm I have a similar question to ptahhotep: for so many galaxies to be in this line of sight, are they in another cluster? and/or along one of the strings even of the Local Group, or at least the Virgo Supercluster?

I was thinking the picture is "zoomed in" enough for us to start seeing far background objects, which are pretty much everywhere in every direction. Look at the various Hubble Deep Field pictures; those are of apparently empty patches of sky, in between local stars and not-so-distant galaxies.

TheOtherBruce wrote: ↑Sun Jan 12, 2020 4:32 pm

Leon1949Green wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2020 3:12 pm I have a similar question to ptahhotep: for so many galaxies to be in this line of sight, are they in another cluster? and/or along one of the strings even of the Local Group, or at least the Virgo Supercluster?

I was thinking the picture is "zoomed in" enough for us to start seeing far background objects, which are pretty much everywhere in every direction. Look at the various Hubble Deep Field pictures; those are of apparently empty patches of sky, in between local stars and not-so-distant galaxies.

Take a look at the galaxies and judge for yourself.

Are the galaxies of similar sizes? Are their colors similar, i.e., do they seem to have the same amount of "redshift reddening" from the expansion of the Universe? Are their "textures" similar?

There are two galaxies very close to each other (apparently touching) (at 10 o'clock) which are of similar sizes, but very different colors. One is whitish and one is orange. Yes, they could be actual neighbours, and one could simply be so full of star formation that its intrinsic color is quite different from its orange neighbour. Or one could just just by chance be very much more dust-reddened than the other one. But I wouldn't bet on it. It is possible that the orange one is much farther into the background than the white one and that it is interacting with the orange galaxy to its lower right, not with the white one.

Also take a look at the very fluffy galaxy at 1 o'clock. It is so fluffy that it looks more like a flattened globular cluster than a galaxy, at least its outer parts. My guess is that this is a small, relatively low-mass galaxy (or just possibly a globular cluster) that is much closer than almost all the other background galaxies.

But you should be able to detect many galaxies that seem to belong together because they are of similar sizes and colors, and also they are close together int he sky. My guess is that these galaxies are actual neighbours in space.

Ann

neufer wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2020 7:24 pm

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Symme-try. I've always loved it.

Ann