U Camelopardalis

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikOS67LCLW3jKi5u46u46mh9-zOEUCl6Sb15ov5id8CmM-0xTrAjgjhX0ISZTsihBc8jy_ZibP_6SkPaTQN2IxUTLpxvFF_61JU5UtFYLsLT24lggoEhJ1EEiwXSBwjflJRTUAsh39mFrZ/s1600/U-Camelopardalis.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="U Camelopardalis" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikOS67LCLW3jKi5u46u46mh9-zOEUCl6Sb15ov5id8CmM-0xTrAjgjhX0ISZTsihBc8jy_ZibP_6SkPaTQN2IxUTLpxvFF_61JU5UtFYLsLT24lggoEhJ1EEiwXSBwjflJRTUAsh39mFrZ/s640/U-Camelopardalis.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">A bright star is surrounded by a tenuous shell of gas in this unusual image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. U Camelopardalis, or U Cam for short, is a star nearing the end of its life. As it begins to run low on fuel, it is becoming unstable. Every few thousand years, it coughs out a nearly spherical shell of gas as a layer of helium around its core begins to fuse. The gas ejected in the star’s latest eruption is clearly visible in this picture as a faint bubble of gas surrounding the star.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">U Cam is an example of a carbon star. This is a rare type of star whose atmosphere contains more carbon than oxygen. Due to its low surface gravity, typically as much as half of the total mass of a carbon star may be lost by way of powerful stellar winds.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Located in the constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe), near the North Celestial Pole, U Cam itself is actually much smaller than it appears in Hubble’s picture. In fact, the star would easily fit within a single pixel at the centre of the image. Its brightness, however, is enough to overwhelm the capability of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys making the star look much bigger than it really is.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The shell of gas, which is both much larger and much fainter than its parent star, is visible in intricate detail in Hubble’s portrait. While phenomena that occur at the ends of stars’ lives are often quite irregular and unstable, the shell of gas expelled from U Cam is almost perfectly spherical.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The image was produced with the High Resolution Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys.</div><br />Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA and H. Olofsson (Onsala Space Observatory)<br />Explanation from: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1227a/

U Camelopardalis

A bright star is surrounded by a tenuous shell of gas in this unusual image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. U Camelopardalis, or U...

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Jupiter seen by Cassini spacecraft

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSkmhM6j1wbim7S1v3IBROtWXgAqQdepRYffTMqhx9mBUk15oMjj8hfCiJB1sLixxL_yF2qyYKAn69vIO8D93loN2YTN9wtkEiVoq7xsNA_hgdb3BhANQDGrYzOHE7QDXC-rNplpHSXTJ/s1600/Jupiter-Cassini.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Jupiter seen by Cassini spacecraft" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSkmhM6j1wbim7S1v3IBROtWXgAqQdepRYffTMqhx9mBUk15oMjj8hfCiJB1sLixxL_yF2qyYKAn69vIO8D93loN2YTN9wtkEiVoq7xsNA_hgdb3BhANQDGrYzOHE7QDXC-rNplpHSXTJ/s640/Jupiter-Cassini.jpg" title="" width="512" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This true color mosaic of Jupiter was constructed from images taken by the narrow angle camera onboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft on December 29, 2000, during its closest approach to the giant planet at a distance of approximately 10 million kilometers (6.2 million miles).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">It is the most detailed global color portrait of Jupiter ever produced; the smallest visible features are approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) across. The mosaic is composed of 27 images: nine images were required to cover the entire planet in a tic-tac-toe pattern, and each of those locations was imaged in red, green, and blue to provide true color. Although Cassini's camera can see more colors than humans can, Jupiter's colors in this new view look very close to the way the human eye would see them.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Everything visible on the planet is a cloud. The parallel reddish-brown and white bands, the white ovals, and the large Great Red Spot persist over many years despite the intense turbulence visible in the atmosphere. The most energetic features are the small, bright clouds to the left of the Great Red Spot and in similar locations in the northern half of the planet. These clouds grow and disappear over a few days and generate lightning. Streaks form as clouds are sheared apart by Jupiter's intense jet streams that run parallel to the colored bands. The prominent dark band in the northern half of the planet is the location of Jupiter's fastest jet stream, with eastward winds of 480 kilometers (300 miles) per hour. Jupiter's diameter is eleven times that of Earth, so the smallest storms on this mosaic are comparable in size to the largest hurricanes on Earth.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Unlike Earth, where only water condenses to form clouds, Jupiter's clouds are made of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and water. The updrafts and downdrafts bring different mixtures of these substances up from below, leading to clouds at different heights. The brown and orange colors may be due to trace chemicals dredged up from deeper levels of the atmosphere, or they may be byproducts of chemical reactions driven by ultraviolet light from the Sun. Bluish areas, such as the small features just north and south of the equator, are areas of reduced cloud cover, where one can see deeper.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Explanation from: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04866</div></div>

Jupiter seen by Cassini spacecraft

This true color mosaic of Jupiter was constructed from images taken by the narrow angle camera onboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Dece...

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Globular Cluster NGC 6397

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1jTCMCnMS3U1O5DtPX2OMwDEi5I_kyH5B3dOY-NtnPVsGZwhv9LExrVheiyFsVrvCHLcdRiBgQFHdiOmtcnVkJJVf_Vr-GMHqYp3tGWJnzbZixpSp5N7wnBw8fkpMApoLTuovk1kg6MBm/s1600/Globular-Cluster-NGC-6397.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Globular Cluster NGC 6397" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1jTCMCnMS3U1O5DtPX2OMwDEi5I_kyH5B3dOY-NtnPVsGZwhv9LExrVheiyFsVrvCHLcdRiBgQFHdiOmtcnVkJJVf_Vr-GMHqYp3tGWJnzbZixpSp5N7wnBw8fkpMApoLTuovk1kg6MBm/s640/Globular-Cluster-NGC-6397.jpg" title="" width="474" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Image of globular cluster NGC 6397 in the constellation Ara (the Altar). The cluster is home to a highly unusual system consisting of a fast spinning pulsar and a bloated red companion star.</div><br />Image Credit: NASA, ESA and H. Richer (University of British Columbia)

Globular Cluster NGC 6397

Image of globular cluster NGC 6397 in the constellation Ara (the Altar). The cluster is home to a highly unusual system consisting of a fast...

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Spiral Galaxy Messier 94

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDGzFyWPf0YGwtPNhAG4cYo3UDfzq_lFUdOe_59gz_wH-1AKWLKis792yN6rKEo2_VZo2mm0JL2IlEwXb7fCuT-oUq3xkHydLhmYUR7MizdSl5b21lE-Y0V0QjziZxNwtKRdus6aFVEzJ/s1600/Spiral-Galaxy-Messier-94.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Spiral Galaxy Messier 94" border="0" height="627" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDGzFyWPf0YGwtPNhAG4cYo3UDfzq_lFUdOe_59gz_wH-1AKWLKis792yN6rKEo2_VZo2mm0JL2IlEwXb7fCuT-oUq3xkHydLhmYUR7MizdSl5b21lE-Y0V0QjziZxNwtKRdus6aFVEzJ/s640/Spiral-Galaxy-Messier-94.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This image shows the galaxy Messier 94, which lies in the small northern constellation of the Hunting Dogs, about 16 million light-years away.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Within the bright ring around Messier 94 new stars are forming at a high rate and many young, bright stars are present within it – thanks to this, this feature is called a starburst ring.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The cause of this peculiarly shaped star-forming region is likely a pressure wave going outwards from the galactic centre, compressing the gas and dust in the outer region. The compression of material means the gas starts to collapse into denser clouds. Inside these dense clouds, gravity pulls the gas and dust together until temperature and pressure are high enough for stars to be born.</div><br />Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA<br />Explanation from: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1542a/

Spiral Galaxy Messier 94

This image shows the galaxy Messier 94, which lies in the small northern constellation of the Hunting Dogs, about 16 million light-years awa...

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Star-Forming Region LHA 120-N44

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXP1h6uwIvGdh20AwRUZ6XlP1kkn7oYOML4PzDPtPMBlYWEaUO4FKvJE7l2_71z19CGHdVHtIA7HclpbEqvcOm0glOeScvuTJgulE3UwVHfRJ8-4sVoteb2l-mgFosNFGuGzCev8jc-b3X/s1600/Star-Forming-Region-LHA-120-N44.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Star-Forming Region LHA 120-N44" border="0" height="511" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXP1h6uwIvGdh20AwRUZ6XlP1kkn7oYOML4PzDPtPMBlYWEaUO4FKvJE7l2_71z19CGHdVHtIA7HclpbEqvcOm0glOeScvuTJgulE3UwVHfRJ8-4sVoteb2l-mgFosNFGuGzCev8jc-b3X/s640/Star-Forming-Region-LHA-120-N44.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This colourful view shows the star-forming region LHA 120-N44 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This picture combines the view in visible light from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile with images in infrared light and X-rays from orbiting satellite observatories.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">At the centre of this very rich region of gas, dust and young stars lies the star cluster NGC 1929. Its massive stars produce intense radiation, expel matter at high speeds as stellar winds, and race through their short but brilliant lives to explode as supernovae. The winds and supernova shock waves have carved out a huge cavity, called a superbubble, in the surrounding gas.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Observations with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (shown here in blue) reveal hot regions created by these winds and shocks, while infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (shown in red) outline where the dust and cooler gas are found. The visible-light view from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope (in yellow) completes the picture and shows the hot young stars themselves as well as the glowing clouds of gas and dust that surround them.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Combining these different views of this dramatic region has allowed astronomers to solve a mystery: why are N44, and similar superbubbles, giving off such strong X-rays? The answer seems to be that there are two extra sources of bright X-ray emission: supernova shock waves striking the walls of the cavities, and hot material evaporating from the cavity walls. This X-ray emission from the edge of the superbubble shows up clearly in the picture.</div><br />Image Credit: Optical: ESO, X-ray: NASA/CXC/U.Mich./S.Oey, IR: NASA/JPL <br />Explanation from: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1236a/

Star-Forming Region LHA 120-N44

This colourful view shows the star-forming region LHA 120-N44 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This...

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Star Cluster Pismis 24

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuDsVv9lbKZijxDPocDJC_dIWRvBUtZdLajaEd0rXAdyAQAm7fKVwGmSP_Rs8GqXB5nhxd_uAjfbH3cF8qdzK7RGlsgGASm5KepmX9OOBb35RZu53TJPO8MdjErwUDw_XdKMb_QbI0z9Ke/s1600/Pismis-24.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Star Cluster Pismis 24" border="0" height="633" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuDsVv9lbKZijxDPocDJC_dIWRvBUtZdLajaEd0rXAdyAQAm7fKVwGmSP_Rs8GqXB5nhxd_uAjfbH3cF8qdzK7RGlsgGASm5KepmX9OOBb35RZu53TJPO8MdjErwUDw_XdKMb_QbI0z9Ke/s640/Pismis-24.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Home to some of the largest stars ever discovered, the open stellar cluster Pismis 24 blazes from the core of NGC 6357, a nebula in the constellation of Scorpius (the Scorpion). Several stars in the clusters weigh in at over 100 times the mass of the Sun, making them real monster stars. The strange shapes taken by the clouds are a result of the huge amount of blazing radiation emitted by these massive, hot stars. The gas and dust of the nebula hide huge baby stars in the nebula from telescopes observing in visible light, as well as adding to the hazy appearance of the image.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This image combines observations performed through three different filters in visible light (B, V, R) with the 1.5-metre Danish telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile.</div><br />Image Credit: ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/ R. Gendler, U.G. Jørgensen, J. Skottfelt, K. Harpsøe<br />Explanation from: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1015a/

Star Cluster Pismis 24

Home to some of the largest stars ever discovered, the open stellar cluster Pismis 24 blazes from the core of NGC 6357, a nebula in the cons...

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Milky Way, Alpha Centauri AB and Proxima Centauri seen over La Silla Observatory

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTHCssDkSO0iqlamtG17bXFzE7aa1QZdm9ZkHRLUzVuTHNtGme_xRYBy-jdPxQpMTkstsrGSqtiEDw7isXKvGMl5cR0ZOx8zUcntetsN4AZ35NWhvErnOF8BumA64HBvDNW7eOItTsz2WI/s1600/Alpha-Centauri-Proxima-Centauri-Milky-Way.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Milky Way, Alpha Centauri AB and Proxima Centauri seen over La Silla Observatory" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTHCssDkSO0iqlamtG17bXFzE7aa1QZdm9ZkHRLUzVuTHNtGme_xRYBy-jdPxQpMTkstsrGSqtiEDw7isXKvGMl5cR0ZOx8zUcntetsN4AZ35NWhvErnOF8BumA64HBvDNW7eOItTsz2WI/s640/Alpha-Centauri-Proxima-Centauri-Milky-Way.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our magnificent Milky Way galaxy is radiant over La Silla Observatory. The ESO 3.6-metre telescope is shown to the right, now home to the world's foremost extrasolar planet hunter: High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), a spectrograph with unrivalled precision.</div><br />Image Credit: ESO/B. Tafreshi

Milky Way, Alpha Centauri AB and Proxima Centauri seen over La Silla Observatory

Our magnificent Milky Way galaxy is radiant over La Silla Observatory. The ESO 3.6-metre telescope is shown to the right, now home to the wo...

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