Galaxy – Page 6 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

A Green Ring Fit for a Superhero

By Guest PostJune 19, 2011Scienceastronomers, citizen scientist, constellation scorpius, diminutive guardians, emerald nebula, galactic plane, Galaxy, green ring of dust, infrared colors, infrared detectors, NASA, o stars, planet oa, public astronomy projects, rcw 120, spitzer, spitzer space telescope, superhero green lantern, the milky way project, ultraviolet light, zooniverse

This glowing emerald nebula seen by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope is reminiscent of the glowing ring wielded by the superhero Green Lantern. In the comic books, the diminutive Guardians of the Planet “Oa” forged his power ring, but astronomers believe rings like this are actually sculpted by the powerful light of giant “O” stars. O stars are the most massive type of star known to exist.

Named RCW 120 by astronomers, this region of hot gas and glowing dust can be found in the murky clouds encircled by the tail of the constellation Scorpius. The green ring of dust is actually glowing in infrared colors that our eyes cannot see, but show up brightly when viewed by Spitzer’s infrared detectors. At the center of this ring are a couple of giant stars whose intense ultraviolet light carved out the bubble, though they blend in with the other stars when viewed in infrared. (more…)

Just Four Percent of Galaxies Have Neighbors Like the Milky Way

By Guest PostMay 26, 2011Scienceanalyses of data, big bang, cdm, cold dark matter theory, computer model, formation of our galaxy, Galaxy, luminosity, magellanic clouds, Milky Way, nigel sharp, optical sky, risa wechsler, sdss, stanford university, universe

*Our home galaxy belongs to a rare subset among the billions that populate the cosmos*

How unique is the Milky Way?

To find out, a group of researchers led by Stanford University astrophysicist Risa Wechsler compared the Milky Way to similar galaxies and found that just four percent are like the galaxy Earth calls home. (more…)

Stars Gather in ‘Downtown’ Milky Way

By Guest PostMarch 20, 2011Science120 degree view, astronomers, earth, galactic center, Galaxy, infrared array camera, milky way galaxy, multiband imaging photometer, myriad of stars, NASA, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, spitzer image, spitzer space telescope, starlight

The region around the center of our Milky Way galaxy glows colorfully in this new version of an image taken by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

The data were previously released as part of a long, 120-degree view of the plane our galaxy (see https://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2680-ssc2008-11a-Spitzer-Finds-Clarity-in-the-Inner-Milky-Way). Now, data from the very center of that picture are being presented at a different contrast to better highlight this jam-packed region. In visible-light pictures, it is all but impossible to see the heart of our galaxy, but infrared light penetrates the shroud of dust giving us this unprecedented view. (more…)

Herschel Measures Dark Matter for Star-Forming Galaxies

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2011Sciencealexandre amblard, asantha cooray, astronomers, dark matter, distant galaxies, european space agency, exotic substance, Galaxy, herschel, herschel space observatory, jamie bock, longer wavelength infrared light, massive galaxies, Milky Way, Nature, star forming galaxies, stars, telescope, universe, william danchi

PASADENA, Calif. — The Herschel Space Observatory has revealed how much dark matter it takes to form a new galaxy bursting with stars. Herschel is a European Space Agency cornerstone mission supported with important NASA contributions.

The findings are a key step in understanding how dark matter, an invisible substance permeating our universe, contributed to the birth of massive galaxies in the early universe. (more…)

Earth-Size Planet Candidates Found in Habitable Zone

By Guest PostFebruary 3, 2011Scienceames research center, charles bolden, constellations, cygnus, earth size planet, extraterrestrial planets, Galaxy, habitable zone, jack lissauer, kepler, kepler 11, kepler 11b, kepler mission, liquid water, lyra, moffett field, NASA, science fiction, space telescope, star, william borucki

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. Five of the potential planets are near Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of smaller, cooler stars than our sun.

Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets. Kepler also found six confirmed planets orbiting a sun-like star, Kepler-11. This is the largest group of transiting planets orbiting a single star yet discovered outside our solar system. (more…)

Cosmic Curiosity Reveals Ghostly Glow of Dead Quasar

By Guest PostNovember 5, 2010Scienceastronomer, black hole, dead quasar, dutch, Galaxy, galaxy zoo, gas cloud, hanny van arkel, hanny's object, hanny's voorwerp, kevin schawinski, life cycle, light echo, meg urry, paolo coppi, priyamvada natarajan, schoolteacher, yale university

The green Voorwerp in the foreground remains illuminated by light emitted up to 70,000 years ago by a quasar in the center of the background galaxy, which has since died out. Image credit: WIYN/William Keel/Anna Manning

While sorting through hundreds of galaxy images as part of the Galaxy Zoo citizen science project two years ago, Dutch schoolteacher and volunteer astronomer Hanny van Arkel stumbled upon a strange-looking object that baffled professional astronomers. Two years later, a team led by Yale University researchers has discovered that the unique object represents a snapshot in time that reveals surprising clues about the life cycle of black holes.

In a new study, the team has confirmed that the unusual object, known as Hanny’s Voorwerp (Hanny’s “object” in Dutch), is a large cloud of glowing gas illuminated by the light from a quasar-an extremely energetic galaxy with a supermassive black hole at its center. The twist, described online in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, is that the quasar lighting up the gas has since burned out almost entirely, even though the light it emitted in the past continues to travel through space, illuminating the gas cloud and producing a sort of “light echo” of the dead quasar. (more…)

Giant Star Goes Supernova — and is Smothered by Its Own Dust

By Guest PostOctober 16, 20105 commentsScience10-meter keck telescope, active galactic nuclei, agn, astronomers, christopher kochanek, deep wide field survey, eta carinae, Galaxy, giant star, hawaii, homunculus nebula, hypernova, krzysztof stanek, light years, Milky Way, milky way galaxy, NASA, ohio state university, spitzer space telescope, star system, super-massive black holes, supernovae, szymon kozlowski, wide field infrared explorer, wise

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A giant star in a faraway galaxy recently ended its life with a dust-shrouded whimper instead of the more typical bang.

Ohio State University researchers suspect that this odd event — the first one of its kind ever viewed by astronomers – was more common early in the universe. (more…)

Spacecraft Observes Evolution of Conditions at Edge of Solar System

By Guest PostOctober 1, 2010Scienceall-sky, david j mccomas, dick fisher, dynamic, exploration, Galaxy, greenbelt, ibex, interstellar boundary explorer, NASA, san Antonio, solar system, spacecraft, sun

WASHINGTON — Conditions at the edge of our solar system may be much more dynamic than previously thought, new observations suggest. Future exploration missions are expected to benefit in design and mission objectives from a better understanding of the changing conditions in this boundary region. (more…)

Tag Archives: Galaxy