Starship Asterisk*

Posted: **Thu May 18, 2023 4:05 am**

WR 134 Ring Nebula

Explanation: Made with narrowband filters, this cosmic snapshot covers a field of view about the size of the full Moon within the boundaries of the constellation Cygnus. It highlights the bright edge of a ring-like nebula traced by the glow of ionized sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen gas. Embedded in the region's interstellar clouds of gas and dust, the complex, glowing arcs are sections of bubbles or shells of material swept up by the wind from Wolf-Rayet star WR 134, brightest star near the center of the frame. Distance estimates put WR 134 about 6,000 light-years away, making the frame over 50 light-years across. Shedding their outer envelopes in powerful stellar winds, massive Wolf-Rayet stars have burned through their nuclear fuel at a prodigious rate and end this final phase of massive star evolution in a spectacular supernova explosion. The stellar winds and final supernovae enrich the interstellar material with heavy elements to be incorporated in future generations of stars.

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Posted: **Thu May 18, 2023 12:07 pm**

Is it just me or does that star look green??

Posted: **Thu May 18, 2023 2:31 pm**

looks green

Posted: **Thu May 18, 2023 4:37 pm**

Kind of nice; they have the Ring Nebula on my wife's and
my 60th wedding anniversary! How cool is that?

!
The central star in the Ring; Wolf-Rayet star WR 134!

Posted: **Thu May 18, 2023 4:49 pm**

Great & wonderful, we need our indestructible starship USS Victory NCC 1967 to explore these regions of space and I'm volunteering to build it for NASA & ESA! Try Me & Get Me!

Posted: **Thu May 18, 2023 4:52 pm**

Rauf wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 12:07 pm Is it just me or does that star look green??

I agree with you that the star looks green. There are also other stars, albeit fainter ones, that also look green.

Stars don't look green to our eyes. The reason for this is that the Sun is green, in that its energy output peaks in the green (or rather blue-green) part of the spectrum.

Even so the Sun does not look green to our eyes, but instead it looks white or pale yellow. And in the same way that the Sun doesn't look green to our eyes, other stars whose light output peaks in the green part of the spectrum don't look green, either. But indeed, some stars in the APOD do look green.

Bear in mind that the APOD is a narrowband image. Such pictures often do a relatively bad job at rendering star colors accurately. Admittedly, the most typical problem with star colors in narrowband images has been that so many stars look pink or purple.

: Pink stars in the original narrowband 'Pillars of Creation' picture by Hubble.

Ann

Posted: **Thu May 18, 2023 5:36 pm**

Ann wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 4:52 pm
Rauf wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 12:07 pm Is it just me or does that star look green??
I agree with you that the star looks green. There are also other stars, albeit fainter ones, that also look green.

Stars don't look green to our eyes. The reason for this is that the Sun is green, in that its energy output peaks in the green (or rather blue-green) part of the spectrum.

Even so the Sun does not look green to our eyes, but instead it looks white or pale yellow. And in the same way that the Sun doesn't look green to our eyes, other stars whose light output peaks in the green part of the spectrum don't look green, either. But indeed, some stars in the APOD do look green.

Bear in mind that the APOD is a narrowband image. Such pictures often do a relatively bad job at rendering star colors accurately. Admittedly, the most typical problem with star colors in narrowband images has been that so many stars look pink or purple.

Pink stars in the original narrowband 'Pillars of Creation' picture by Hubble.

Ann

Arguably, that is not a "problem". Purple is an accurate representation of how stars look in those bands!

Posted: **Thu May 18, 2023 8:34 pm**

I get the impression from the text that this Ring Nebula is somewhere in the wider view that also shows the Crescent Nebula, which is the small circular feature near the top of the linked to APOD image (below, and also at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220609.html). But where is the Ring Nebula in this wider view?

: Click to view full size image

Posted: **Thu May 18, 2023 9:07 pm**

Ann wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 4:52 pm
Rauf wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 12:07 pm Is it just me or does that star look green??
I agree with you that the star looks green. There are also other stars, albeit fainter ones, that also look green.

Stars don't look green to our eyes. The reason for this is that the Sun is green, in that its energy output peaks in the green (or rather blue-green) part of the spectrum.

Even so the Sun does not look green to our eyes, but instead it looks white or pale yellow. And in the same way that the Sun doesn't look green to our eyes, other stars whose light output peaks in the green part of the spectrum don't look green, either. But indeed, some stars in the APOD do look green.

Bear in mind that the APOD is a narrowband image. Such pictures often do a relatively bad job at rendering star colors accurately. Admittedly, the most typical problem with star colors in narrowband images has been that so many stars look pink or purple.

Pink stars in the original narrowband 'Pillars of Creation' picture by Hubble.

Ann

I see. Thanks for the explanation Ann!

Posted: **Thu May 18, 2023 9:08 pm**

orin stepanek wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 4:37 pm WR134SHO_1024.jpg
Kind of nice; they have the Ring Nebula on my wife's and
my 60th wedding anniversary! How cool is that?
WR124_Webb1024.png!
The central star in the Ring; Wolf-Rayet star WR 134!

Congratulations, living together for 60 years? You've done something not many people are able to.

Posted: **Thu May 18, 2023 10:00 pm**

Rauf wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 9:08 pm
orin stepanek wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 4:37 pm WR134SHO_1024.jpg
Kind of nice; they have the Ring Nebula on my wife's and
my 60th wedding anniversary! How cool is that?
WR124_Webb1024.png!
The central star in the Ring; Wolf-Rayet star WR 134!
Congratulations, living together for 60 years? You've done something not many people are able to.

Thanks; We make a good team!

Posted: **Fri May 19, 2023 3:22 am**

orin stepanek wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 4:37 pm WR134SHO_1024.jpg
Kind of nice; they have the Ring Nebula on my wife's and
my 60th wedding anniversary! How cool is that?
WR124_Webb1024.png!
The central star in the Ring; Wolf-Rayet star WR 134!

Congratulations, Orin, I didn't notice this until now!

Ann

Posted: **Fri May 19, 2023 5:15 am**

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 8:34 pm I get the impression from the text that this Ring Nebula is somewhere in the wider view that also shows the Crescent Nebula, which is the small circular feature near the top of the linked to APOD image (below, and also at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220609.html). But where is the Ring Nebula in this wider view?

Click to view full size image

WR134 is actually quite close to the Cygnus Loop and also shares similarities with WR 124 as shown in the post from Orin.

DSS2 cutout with of today's APOD as an infill:

: Click to view full size image 1 or image 2

bigger:https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/529 ... 34c7_o.jpg

Posted: **Fri May 19, 2023 9:00 pm**

I wasd just surprised about the coincidence!

Posted: **Sat May 20, 2023 2:57 pm**

AVAO wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 5:15 am
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 8:34 pm I get the impression from the text that this Ring Nebula is somewhere in the wider view that also shows the Crescent Nebula, which is the small circular feature near the top of the linked to APOD image (below, and also at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220609.html). But where is the Ring Nebula in this wider view?

Click to view full size image

WR134 is actually quite close to the Cygnus Loop and also shares similarities with WR 124 as shown in the post from Orin.

DSS2 cutout with of today's APOD as an infill:
Click to view full size image 1 or image 2
bigger:https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/529 ... 34c7_o.jpg

This infill is rather APOD 2022 June 9 than APOD 2023 May 18

Posted: **Sat May 20, 2023 2:59 pm**

what exactly is WR 134, brightest star near the center of the frame I still don't get

Posted: **Sat May 20, 2023 3:26 pm**

red is sulfur, orange is hydrogen and blue is oxygen.
Let me check if it's in the order of exciting photons' energy…

They weight most

sulfur S II 671.829 and 673.267 nm
hydrogen Hα 656.461 nm
oxygen O III 496.0295 and 500.8240 nm

So the palette order is true to nature

Posted: **Sat May 20, 2023 8:18 pm**

AVAO wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 5:15 am
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 8:34 pm I get the impression from the text that this Ring Nebula is somewhere in the wider view that also shows the Crescent Nebula, which is the small circular feature near the top of the linked to APOD image (below, and also at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220609.html). But where is the Ring Nebula in this wider view?

Click to view full size image

WR134 is actually quite close to the Cygnus Loop and also shares similarities with WR 124 as shown in the post from Orin.

DSS2 cutout with of today's APOD as an infill:
Click to view full size image 1 or image 2
bigger:https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/529 ... 34c7_o.jpg

Thanks, but I'm still not seeing today's APOD in your pics.

Posted: **Sat May 20, 2023 8:22 pm**

VictorBorun wrote: ↑Sat May 20, 2023 2:59 pm what exactly is WR 134, brightest star near the center of the frame I still don't get

Googling other references and pics, I assume WR 134 is this one:

Posted: **Sat May 20, 2023 10:14 pm**

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sat May 20, 2023 8:22 pm
VictorBorun wrote: ↑Sat May 20, 2023 2:59 pm what exactly is WR 134, brightest star near the center of the frame I still don't get
Googling other references and pics, I assume WR 134 is this one:

wr134location.png

thanks! Without other evidence on a WR star, with only this APOD to look at, I thought the comet-like tails direct to a point to the left of this star

Starship Asterisk*

APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)

Re: APOD: WR 134 Ring Nebula (2023 May 18)