A Splendor Seldom Seen

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIIJETLZzFY2C3fh9LqfdzxS6pfliVGBFJNRBAPcb9VDdc9lgy5WQKgpmL6XBUcLJx6_Zc8-FRyjMkBh0s0LkzTYzi_iSGtclMNoyX7LtRRsA1L20XSTi1GCFltWR_UXET6zsZfkzv9vm/s1600/714625main_PIA14934_full_full.jpg"><img alt="NASA's Cassini spacecraft has delivered a glorious view of Saturn, taken while the spacecraft was in Saturn's shadow. The cameras were turned toward Saturn and the sun so that the planet and rings are backlit. (The sun is behind the planet, which is shielding the cameras from direct sunlight.) In addition to the visual splendor, this special, very-high-phase viewing geometry lets scientists study ring and atmosphere phenomena not easily seen at a lower phase. Since images like this can only be taken while the sun is behind the planet, this beautiful view is all the more precious for its rarity. The last time Cassini captured a view like this was in Sept. 2006, when it captured a mosaic processed to look like natural color, entitled "In Saturn's Shadow." In that mosaic, planet Earth put in a special appearance, making "In Saturn's Shadow" one of the most popular Cassini images to date. Earth does not appear in this mosaic as it is hidden behind the planet. Also captured in this image are two of Saturn's moons: Enceladus and Tethys. Both appear on the left side of the planet, below the rings. Enceladus is closer to the rings; Tethys is below and to the left. This view looks toward the non-illuminated side of the rings from about 19 degrees below the ring plane. Images taken using infrared, red and violet spectral filters were combined to create this enhanced-color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Oct. 17, 2012 at a distance of approximately 500,000 miles (800,000 kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale at Saturn is about 30 miles per pixel (50 kilometers per pixel). The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Explanation from: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia14934.html" border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIIJETLZzFY2C3fh9LqfdzxS6pfliVGBFJNRBAPcb9VDdc9lgy5WQKgpmL6XBUcLJx6_Zc8-FRyjMkBh0s0LkzTYzi_iSGtclMNoyX7LtRRsA1L20XSTi1GCFltWR_UXET6zsZfkzv9vm/s640/714625main_PIA14934_full_full.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">NASA's Cassini spacecraft has delivered a glorious view of Saturn, taken while the spacecraft was in Saturn's shadow. The cameras were turned toward Saturn and the sun so that the planet and rings are backlit. (The sun is behind the planet, which is shielding the cameras from direct sunlight.) In addition to the visual splendor, this special, very-high-phase viewing geometry lets scientists study ring and atmosphere phenomena not easily seen at a lower phase. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Since images like this can only be taken while the sun is behind the planet, this beautiful view is all the more precious for its rarity. The last time Cassini captured a view like this was in Sept. 2006, when it captured a mosaic processed to look like natural color, entitled "In Saturn's Shadow." In that mosaic, planet Earth put in a special appearance, making "In Saturn's Shadow" one of the most popular Cassini images to date. Earth does not appear in this mosaic as it is hidden behind the planet. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Also captured in this image are two of Saturn's moons: Enceladus and Tethys. Both appear on the left side of the planet, below the rings. Enceladus is closer to the rings; Tethys is below and to the left. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This view looks toward the non-illuminated side of the rings from about 19 degrees below the ring plane. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Images taken using infrared, red and violet spectral filters were combined to create this enhanced-color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Oct. 17, 2012 at a distance of approximately 500,000 miles (800,000 kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale at Saturn is about 30 miles per pixel (50 kilometers per pixel). </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. </div><br />Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute<br /><div>Explanation from: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia14934.html</div>

A Splendor Seldom Seen

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has delivered a glorious view of Saturn, taken while the spacecraft was in Saturn's shadow. The cameras we...

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The Brightness of the Sun

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_klKzUCLAMI3LQCLEOOS9VgyBkwIAoDtPRbc79ufd5P6NssJPVhbNxP_Q4ToMY5GvpeNQBBjzINGzQAM3zWDoau9g4B-KyTTnEYm_BjpapmmZU9-d6a3WQtCgeC60_TJy4a-znDpNB-p/s1600/586473main_iss028e005671_full.jpg"><img alt=" The bright Sun, a portion of the International Space Station and Earth's horizon are featured in this image photographed during the STS-134 mission's fourth spacewalk in May 2011. The image was taken using a fish-eye lens attached to an electronic still camera. Image Credit: NASA Explanation from: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2059.html" border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_klKzUCLAMI3LQCLEOOS9VgyBkwIAoDtPRbc79ufd5P6NssJPVhbNxP_Q4ToMY5GvpeNQBBjzINGzQAM3zWDoau9g4B-KyTTnEYm_BjpapmmZU9-d6a3WQtCgeC60_TJy4a-znDpNB-p/s640/586473main_iss028e005671_full.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The bright Sun, a portion of the International Space Station and Earth's horizon are featured in this image photographed during the STS-134 mission's fourth spacewalk in May 2011. The image was taken using a fish-eye lens attached to an electronic still camera. </div><br />Image Credit: NASA

The Brightness of the Sun

The bright Sun, a portion of the International Space Station and Earth's horizon are featured in this image photographed during the STS-...

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Churning Out Stars

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qNSLjPM_R7RHS2jqCkUXT1YIF8HQjQiIOGiIVVv2TP8FcaWkD0Uh7e-AA9ko6fB4lorO8kR9QCeVnBmvMF26cFCnc-aFFjTznhYB8XisPMHOSxuY7MkVf3tLhiKAkBMqoCWFeUEOqxZj/s1600/737757main_pia16881_full.jpg"><img alt="W3 is an enormous stellar nursery about 6,200 light-years away in the Perseus Arm, one of the Milky Way galaxy’s main spiral arms, which hosts both low- and high-mass star formation. In this image from the Herschel space observatory, the low-mass forming stars are seen as tiny yellow dots embedded in cool red filaments, while the highest-mass stars - with greater than eight times the mass of our Sun - emit intense radiation, heating up the gas and dust around them and appearing here in blue. This three-color image of W3 combines Herschel bands at 70 microns (blue), 160 microns (green) and 250 microns (red). The image spans about 2 by 2 degrees. North is up and east is to the left. Image Credit: ESA/PACS & SPIRE consortia, A. Rivera-Ingraham & P.G. Martin, Univ. Toronto, HOBYS Key Programme (F. Motte) Explanation from: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/herschel/multimedia/pia16881.html" border="0" height="612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qNSLjPM_R7RHS2jqCkUXT1YIF8HQjQiIOGiIVVv2TP8FcaWkD0Uh7e-AA9ko6fB4lorO8kR9QCeVnBmvMF26cFCnc-aFFjTznhYB8XisPMHOSxuY7MkVf3tLhiKAkBMqoCWFeUEOqxZj/s640/737757main_pia16881_full.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">W3 is an enormous stellar nursery about 6,200 light-years away in the Perseus Arm, one of the Milky Way galaxy’s main spiral arms, which hosts both low- and high-mass star formation. In this image from the Herschel space observatory, the low-mass forming stars are seen as tiny yellow dots embedded in cool red filaments, while the highest-mass stars - with greater than eight times the mass of our Sun - emit intense radiation, heating up the gas and dust around them and appearing here in blue. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This three-color image of W3 combines Herschel bands at 70 microns (blue), 160 microns (green) and 250 microns (red). The image spans about 2 by 2 degrees. North is up and east is to the left. </div><br />Image Credit: ESA/PACS & SPIRE consortia, A. Rivera-Ingraham & P.G. Martin, Univ. Toronto, HOBYS Key Programme (F. Motte)<br />Explanation from: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/herschel/multimedia/pia16881.html

Churning Out Stars

W3 is an enormous stellar nursery about 6,200 light-years away in the Perseus Arm, one of the Milky Way galaxy’s main spiral arms, which hos...

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Building a Lunar Base with 3D Printing

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7PDZDFbxr4Z_0qXNQBgKaBChBC7Ynak5FOIR2ccnLiCo6M65aLjo4lUEl3K9jco0-1PqEQMEHdXjHWPpX_iETCA1Bmo0zIExIJyeYGnK2KG7I0A-4SWhIcHo4iGWztCECm_onRo2ypgK/s1600/base_Lunairemade_imprimante_3D.jpg"><img alt="Building a Lunar Base with 3D Printing" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7PDZDFbxr4Z_0qXNQBgKaBChBC7Ynak5FOIR2ccnLiCo6M65aLjo4lUEl3K9jco0-1PqEQMEHdXjHWPpX_iETCA1Bmo0zIExIJyeYGnK2KG7I0A-4SWhIcHo4iGWztCECm_onRo2ypgK/s640/base_Lunairemade_imprimante_3D.jpg" title="" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Building a base on the Moon could theoretically be made much simpler by using a 3D printer to construct it from local materials.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The concept was recently endorsed by the European Space Agency (ESA) which is now collaborating with architects to gauge the feasibility of 3D printing using lunar soil.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">“Terrestrial 3D printing technology has produced entire structures,” explained Laurent Pambaguian, heading the project for ESA. “Our industrial team investigated if it could similarly be employed to build a lunar habitat.”</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">According to Pambaguian, ESA’s partners have devised a weight-bearing “catenary” dome design with a cellular structured wall to help shield against micrometeoroids and space radiation – incorporating a pressurized inflatable to shelter astronauts.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Meanwhile, a hollow closed-cell structure – somewhat reminiscent of bird bones – provides a combination of strength and weight. The base’s design was guided in turn by the properties of 3D-printed lunar soil, with a 1.5 ton building block produced as a demonstration.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">“3D printing offers a potential means of facilitating lunar settlement with reduced logistics from Earth,” said Scott Hovland of ESA’s human spaceflight team. “The new possibilities this work opens up can then be considered by international space agencies as part of the current development of a common exploration strategy.”</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNIAoL2oCdG87v2zqfepK3pGt4T_jkPwGXUsjdy5Ocx5q0PyJPzxeivdGctl61HhCZj0a9roUAZRle7FVi2ejEeOtsgGorfRSBRvxlugkk8WnN1t2u0_r-eRpq2jqvktTAVMW9ffrzSfxB/s1600/Multi-dome_base_being_constructed.jpg"><img alt="Building a Lunar Base with 3D Printing" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNIAoL2oCdG87v2zqfepK3pGt4T_jkPwGXUsjdy5Ocx5q0PyJPzxeivdGctl61HhCZj0a9roUAZRle7FVi2ejEeOtsgGorfRSBRvxlugkk8WnN1t2u0_r-eRpq2jqvktTAVMW9ffrzSfxB/s640/Multi-dome_base_being_constructed.jpg" title="" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">Essentially, 3D “printouts” are built up layer by layer. A mobile printing array of nozzles on a 6 m frame sprays a binding solution onto a sand-like building material. First, the simulated lunar material is mixed with magnesium oxide to turn it into ‘paper’ to print with. Then for the structural ‘ink’ a binding salt is applied to convert the material to a stone-like solid.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Current 3D printers build at a rate of around 2 m per hour, while next-gen designs should attain 3.5 m per hour, completing an entire building in a week.</div></div><br />Images Credit: ESA/Foster + Partners<br />Explanation from: http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/articles/building-a-lunar-base-with-3d-printing/

Building a Lunar Base with 3D Printing

Building a base on the Moon could theoretically be made much simpler by using a 3D printer to construct it from local materials. The concept...

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Mammatus Clouds over Saskatchewan

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Koy7Z4VldUcXwOaFPlEO_anKuZvCe56KsxsVhHou0RCDoGZG8dcuba8eJTCAwIWZy_ybGaF1Q_zISxRCPhYf5UKgh9FquR7Wbo3F-GbdBXpkXtkN6JPem6ibyS0i4Avt14WAK6VXU6Cb/s1600/mammatus_lindsay_1280.jpg"><img alt="Normal cloud bottoms are flat. This is because moist warm air that rises and cools will condense into water droplets at a specific temperature, which usually corresponds to a very specific height. As water droplets grow, an opaque cloud forms. Under some conditions, however, cloud pockets can develop that contain large droplets of water or ice that fall into clear air as they evaporate. Such pockets may occur in turbulent air near a thunderstorm. Resulting mammatus clouds can appear especially dramatic if sunlit from the side. These mammatus clouds were photographed over Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in 2011. Image Credit: Craig Lindsay Explanation from: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121023.html" border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Koy7Z4VldUcXwOaFPlEO_anKuZvCe56KsxsVhHou0RCDoGZG8dcuba8eJTCAwIWZy_ybGaF1Q_zISxRCPhYf5UKgh9FquR7Wbo3F-GbdBXpkXtkN6JPem6ibyS0i4Avt14WAK6VXU6Cb/s640/mammatus_lindsay_1280.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Normal cloud bottoms are flat. This is because moist warm air that rises and cools will condense into water droplets at a specific temperature, which usually corresponds to a very specific height. As water droplets grow, an opaque cloud forms. Under some conditions, however, cloud pockets can develop that contain large droplets of water or ice that fall into clear air as they evaporate. Such pockets may occur in turbulent air near a thunderstorm. Resulting mammatus clouds can appear especially dramatic if sunlit from the side. These mammatus clouds were photographed over Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in 2011.</div><br />Image Credit: Craig Lindsay<br />Explanation from: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121023.html

Mammatus Clouds over Saskatchewan

Normal cloud bottoms are flat. This is because moist warm air that rises and cools will condense into water droplets at a specific temperatu...

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Earth - The Water Planet

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXjK1cWXcSGW8RecB-ky2LF_u7bEmbsF_CRx9PIp9oUsfbI6GZe6MfLFzWBWoCduozDrMvTwQdHdYKHezIh59H__UQb9_Qtf_PfFJgm0FcL9_5sr3esoVFYFrUnQI5HyCbWAppX6vLHFbT/s1600/earth_pacific_lrg.jpg"><img alt="Viewed from space, the most striking feature of our planet is the water. In both liquid and frozen form, it covers 75% of the Earth’s surface. It fills the sky with clouds. Water is practically everywhere on Earth, from inside the rocky crust to inside our cells. This detailed, photo-like view of Earth is based largely on observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite. It is one of many images of our watery world featured in a new story examining water in all of its forms and functions. Here is an excerpt: “In all, the Earth’s water content is about 1.39 billion cubic kilometers (331 million cubic miles), with the bulk of it, about 96.5%, being in the global oceans. As for the rest, approximately 1.7% is stored in the polar icecaps, glaciers, and permanent snow, and another 1.7% is stored in groundwater, lakes, rivers, streams, and soil. Only a thousandth of 1% of the water on Earth exists as water vapor in the atmosphere. Despite its small amount, this water vapor has a huge influence on the planet. Water vapor is a powerful greenhouse gas, and it is a major driver of the Earth’s weather and climate as it travels around the globe, transporting heat with it. For human needs, the amount of freshwater for drinking and agriculture is particularly important. Freshwater exists in lakes, rivers, groundwater, and frozen as snow and ice. Estimates of groundwater are particularly difficult to make, and they vary widely. Groundwater may constitute anywhere from approximately 22 to 30% of fresh water, with ice accounting for most of the remaining 78 to 70%. Image Credit: Robert Simmon and Marit Jentoft-Nilsen/MODIS Explanation from: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=46209" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXjK1cWXcSGW8RecB-ky2LF_u7bEmbsF_CRx9PIp9oUsfbI6GZe6MfLFzWBWoCduozDrMvTwQdHdYKHezIh59H__UQb9_Qtf_PfFJgm0FcL9_5sr3esoVFYFrUnQI5HyCbWAppX6vLHFbT/s640/earth_pacific_lrg.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Viewed from space, the most striking feature of our planet is the water. In both liquid and frozen form, it covers 75% of the Earth’s surface. It fills the sky with clouds. Water is practically everywhere on Earth, from inside the rocky crust to inside our cells.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This detailed, photo-like view of Earth is based largely on observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite. It is one of many images of our watery world featured in a new story examining water in all of its forms and functions.<br /><br />Here is an excerpt:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“In all, the Earth’s water content is about 1.39 billion cubic kilometers (331 million cubic miles), with the bulk of it, about 96.5%, being in the global oceans. As for the rest, approximately 1.7% is stored in the polar icecaps, glaciers, and permanent snow, and another 1.7% is stored in groundwater, lakes, rivers, streams, and soil.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Only a thousandth of 1% of the water on Earth exists as water vapor in the atmosphere. Despite its small amount, this water vapor has a huge influence on the planet. Water vapor is a powerful greenhouse gas, and it is a major driver of the Earth’s weather and climate as it travels around the globe, transporting heat with it.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>For human needs, the amount of freshwater for drinking and agriculture is particularly important. Freshwater exists in lakes, rivers, groundwater, and frozen as snow and ice. Estimates of groundwater are particularly difficult to make, and they vary widely. Groundwater may constitute anywhere from approximately 22 to 30% of fresh water, with ice accounting for most of the remaining 78 to 70%."</i></div><br />Image Credit: Robert Simmon and Marit Jentoft-Nilsen/MODIS<br />Explanation from: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=46209</div>

Earth - The Water Planet

Viewed from space, the most striking feature of our planet is the water. In both liquid and frozen form, it covers 75% of the Earth’s surfac...

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Star-Forming Region S106

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiik20-GWLN_BMQSQ2FChJjZcDAqGPEcZbsK_xpRFPo7f8khZ76xmt_Kd3vRUr-ISfp9Fs5zc4kB1CHMFpnuTzA0c32SQmtGq8kztPULmqplUaeWzTPwvTSjgvNSRfvzG7OjprhWNWYfWkR/s1600/hs-2011-38-a-xlarge_web.jpg"><img alt="The bipolar star-forming region, called Sharpless 2-106, looks like a soaring, celestial snow angel. The outstretched "wings" of the nebula record the contrasting imprint of heat and motion against the backdrop of a colder medium. Sharpless 2-106, Sh2-106 or S106 for short, lies nearly 2,000 light-years from us. The nebula measures several light-years in length. It appears in a relatively isolated region of the Milky Way galaxy. A massive, young star, IRS 4 (Infrared Source 4), is responsible for the furious activity we see in the nebula. Twin lobes of super-hot gas, glowing blue in this image, stretch outward from the central star. This hot gas creates the "wings" of our angel. A ring of dust and gas orbiting the star acts like a belt, cinching the expanding nebula into an "hourglass" shape. Hubble's sharp resolution reveals ripples and ridges in the gas as it interacts with the cooler interstellar medium. Dusky red veins surround the blue emission from the nebula. The faint light emanating from the central star reflects off of tiny dust particles. This illuminates the environment around the star, showing darker filaments of dust winding beneath the blue lobes. Detailed studies of the nebula have also uncovered several hundred brown dwarfs. At purely infrared wavelengths, more than 600 of these sub-stellar objects appear. These "failed" stars weigh less than a tenth of our Sun. Because of their low mass, they cannot produce sustained energy through nuclear fusion like our Sun does. They encompass the nebula in a small cluster. The Hubble images were taken in February 2011 with the Wide Field Camera 3. Visible narrow-band filters that isolate the hydrogen gas were combined with near-infrared filters that show structure in the cooler gas and dust. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)Explanation from: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2011/38/image/a/" border="0" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiik20-GWLN_BMQSQ2FChJjZcDAqGPEcZbsK_xpRFPo7f8khZ76xmt_Kd3vRUr-ISfp9Fs5zc4kB1CHMFpnuTzA0c32SQmtGq8kztPULmqplUaeWzTPwvTSjgvNSRfvzG7OjprhWNWYfWkR/s640/hs-2011-38-a-xlarge_web.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The bipolar star-forming region, called Sharpless 2-106, looks like a soaring, celestial snow angel. The outstretched "wings" of the nebula record the contrasting imprint of heat and motion against the backdrop of a colder medium.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sharpless 2-106, Sh2-106 or S106 for short, lies nearly 2,000 light-years from us. The nebula measures several light-years in length. It appears in a relatively isolated region of the Milky Way galaxy.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">A massive, young star, IRS 4 (Infrared Source 4), is responsible for the furious activity we see in the nebula. Twin lobes of super-hot gas, glowing blue in this image, stretch outward from the central star. This hot gas creates the "wings" of our angel.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">A ring of dust and gas orbiting the star acts like a belt, cinching the expanding nebula into an "hourglass" shape. Hubble's sharp resolution reveals ripples and ridges in the gas as it interacts with the cooler interstellar medium.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dusky red veins surround the blue emission from the nebula. The faint light emanating from the central star reflects off of tiny dust particles. This illuminates the environment around the star, showing darker filaments of dust winding beneath the blue lobes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Detailed studies of the nebula have also uncovered several hundred brown dwarfs. At purely infrared wavelengths, more than 600 of these sub-stellar objects appear. These "failed" stars weigh less than a tenth of our Sun. Because of their low mass, they cannot produce sustained energy through nuclear fusion like our Sun does. They encompass the nebula in a small cluster.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Hubble images were taken in February 2011 with the Wide Field Camera 3. Visible narrow-band filters that isolate the hydrogen gas were combined with near-infrared filters that show structure in the cooler gas and dust.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)Explanation from: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2011/38/image/a/

Star-Forming Region S106

The bipolar star-forming region, called Sharpless 2-106, looks like a soaring, celestial snow angel. The outstretched "wings" of t...

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