Star-Forming Region Lupus 3

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDwyjY-YQ_0HwmtIAuzukJTXajflnpoUVh6rGZDc1Eq3RZ1XopMuDbov8KF_-XPPHllM5tw8anPF9UkIT1qtBDM4GjrgUGGnv9us0GtH4Af_R6COZ7kaKhH5MuWP8DvJgpdYLqRuXaLYO/s1600/Star-Forming-Region-Lupus-3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Star-Forming Region Lupus 3" border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="1600" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDwyjY-YQ_0HwmtIAuzukJTXajflnpoUVh6rGZDc1Eq3RZ1XopMuDbov8KF_-XPPHllM5tw8anPF9UkIT1qtBDM4GjrgUGGnv9us0GtH4Af_R6COZ7kaKhH5MuWP8DvJgpdYLqRuXaLYO/s640/Star-Forming-Region-Lupus-3.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">A dark cloud of cosmic dust snakes across this spectacular wide field image, illuminated by the brilliant light of new stars. This dense cloud is a star-forming region called Lupus 3, where dazzlingly hot stars are born from collapsing masses of gas and dust. This image was created from images taken using the VLT Survey Telescope and the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope and is the most detailed image taken so far of this region.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Lupus 3 star forming region lies within the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion), only 600 light-years away from Earth. It is part of a larger complex called the Lupus Clouds, which takes its name from the adjacent constellation of Lupus (The Wolf). The clouds resemble smoke billowing across a background of millions of stars, but in fact these clouds are a dark nebula.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Nebulae are great swathes of gas and dust strung out between the stars, sometimes stretching out over hundreds of light-years. While many nebulae are spectacularly illuminated by the intense radiation of hot stars, dark nebulae shroud the light of the celestial objects within them. They are also known as absorption nebulae, because they are made up of cold, dense particles of dust that absorb and scatter light as it passes through the cloud.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Famous dark nebulae include the Coalsack Nebula and the Great Rift, which are large enough to be seen with the naked eye, starkly black against the brilliance of the Milky Way.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lupus 3 has an irregular form, appearing like a misshapen snake across the sky. In this image it is a region of contrasts, with thick dark trails set against the glare of bright blue stars at the centre. Like most dark nebulae, Lupus 3 is an active star formation region, primarily composed of protostars and very young stars. Nearby disturbances can cause denser clumps of the nebula to contract under gravity, becoming hot and pressurised in the process. Eventually, a protostar is born out of the extreme conditions in the core of this collapsing cloud.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The two brilliant stars in the centre of this image underwent this very process. Early in their lives, the radiation they emitted was largely blocked by the thick veil of their host nebula, visible only to telescopes at infrared and radio wavelengths. But as they grew hotter and brighter, their intense radiation and strong stellar winds swept the surrounding areas clear of gas and dust, allowing them to emerge gloriously from their gloomy nursery to shine brightly.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Understanding nebulae is critical for understanding the processes of star formation — indeed, it is thought that the Sun formed in a star formation region very similar to Lupus 3 over four billion years ago. As one of the closest stellar nurseries, Lupus 3 has been the subject of many studies; in 2013, the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatoryin Chile captured a smaller picture of its dark smoke-like columns and brilliant stars.</div><br />Image Credit: ESO/R. Colombari<br />Explanation from: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1804/<br /><div></div>

Star-Forming Region Lupus 3

A dark cloud of cosmic dust snakes across this spectacular wide field image, illuminated by the brilliant light of new stars. This dense clo...

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Globular Cluster NGC 3201

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfNfz90FOqiyPwZiJVAn4QtWaqXMaEnIGTzLLniyPCwkJaQGo0Rt6BdPOLNL1cLo21R1J3yafNl3qPaBhC10le0LbbZdpZu5eLzhND6Y7HBI1OUYX73q7QJHv8Z26kcdCByVMdVbHAQPU/s1600/Globular-Cluster-NGC-3201.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Globular Cluster NGC 3201" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1550" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfNfz90FOqiyPwZiJVAn4QtWaqXMaEnIGTzLLniyPCwkJaQGo0Rt6BdPOLNL1cLo21R1J3yafNl3qPaBhC10le0LbbZdpZu5eLzhND6Y7HBI1OUYX73q7QJHv8Z26kcdCByVMdVbHAQPU/s640/Globular-Cluster-NGC-3201.jpg" title="" width="620" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals a glistening and ancient globular cluster named NGC 3201 — a gathering of hundreds of thousands of stars bound together by gravity. NGC 3201 was discovered in 1826 by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop, who described it as a “pretty large, pretty bright” object that becomes “rather irregular” towards its centre.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Globular clusters are found around all large galaxies, but their origin and role in galaxy formation remain tantalisingly unclear. Astronomers recently discovered a black hole lurking at the heart of NGC 3201 — its position was revealed by the strange movements of a star being quickly flung around a massive, invisible counterpart. This sparkling group of stars also has some strange properties which make it unique amongst the over 150 globular clusters belonging to the Milky Way. NGC 3201 has an extremely fast velocity with respect to the Sun and its orbit is retrograde, meaning that it moves speedily in the opposite direction to the galactic centre, which it orbits.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The unusual behaviour of this cluster suggests that it may have extragalactic origins, but at some point was captured by the Milky Way’s gravity. However, the chemical makeup of this intriguing cluster tells a different story — the stars within NGC 3201 are chemically very similar to those of other galactic globular clusters, implying that they formed at a similar location and time to their neighbours.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Whether this mysterious cluster was adopted by our galaxy or has for some reason evolved very differently to the family of clusters it grew up with, it is certainly an unusual astronomical beauty.</div><br />Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA<br />Explanation from: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1804a/

Globular Cluster NGC 3201

This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals a glistening and ancient globular cluster named NGC 3201 — a gathering of hundre...

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Great Dust Storms on Mars

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR5HCt6XSGH1Dl1CuJINocwARRlfixZcO4pzbX86ChBT1TDYpn9AAOFAVnPN_yRGyGx7S8lBw4mC085VADKszRbAJJZYebeDImoXgGuBvNDk3gtyrM-xLzYO_WPJLq0SsHTpf39CPLpCv_/s1600/Mars-Great-Dust-Storms.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Great Dust Storms on Mars" border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1600" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR5HCt6XSGH1Dl1CuJINocwARRlfixZcO4pzbX86ChBT1TDYpn9AAOFAVnPN_yRGyGx7S8lBw4mC085VADKszRbAJJZYebeDImoXgGuBvNDk3gtyrM-xLzYO_WPJLq0SsHTpf39CPLpCv_/s640/Mars-Great-Dust-Storms.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Two 2001 images from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter show a dramatic change in the planet's appearance when haze raised by dust-storm activity in the south became globally distributed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">At left, an image from late June 2001 shows clear conditions over much of the planet, with regional dust-storm activity occurring in the Hellas basin (bright oval feature) near the edge of the south polar cap. At right, a July 2001 image from the same perspective shows the planet almost completely enveloped. Dust extends to altitudes of more than 60 kilometers (37 miles) during global-scale storms.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Although dust storms occur year-round on Mars, they often occur in greater numbers during certain seasons. In particular, it has long been known from Earth-based telescopic observations that the largest, global dust events(those that enshroud the entire planet) occur during the southern spring and summer. As the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission began to monitor this period for the second time, particular attention was paid to local and regional dust storms in anticipation of capturing--for the first time--high spatial-and time-resolution observations of the start of a "global" storm.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Throughout the month of June 2001, the MGS Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)routinely accumulated low resolution (7.5 km/pixel) global maps of Marson an orbit-by-orbit basis. A moderately large number of local dust storms were noted, especially along the retreating margin of the seasonal south polar CO2 frost cap and around the large and deep Hellas impact basin that dominates the southern, eastern highlands. On June 21, an otherwise undistinguished small dust storm surged into the basin from the southwest. When viewed 24 hours later, the storm had circulated clockwise about 1/3of the circumference of Hellas, indicating relatively high winds. For the next three days, this storm brewed north of Hellas and east towards Hesperia, but didn't cross the equator. Then, sometime between 2 PM local Mars time on June 25 and 2 PM local Mars time on June 26, the storm exploded north across the equator, and in less than 24 hours thereafter, dust was being raised from separate locations in Arabia, Nilosyrtis, and Hesperia, thousands of kilometers away from Hellas. This was the start of the long-anticipated global dust event.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Over the following week, dust injected high into the stratosphere during the initial Hellas and Hesperia storms drifted eastward, carried by the prevailing south circumpolar jet stream. Beneath this "veil" of dust, an intense wind front moved across Mars, setting up conditions for many other local and regional dust storms. By July 4, a large regional storm was raging between Daedalia Planitia south of the Tharsis volcanoes and Syria Planum (just south of Labyrinthus Noctis). Another storm was raising plumes of dust in north central Noachis/southwestern Meridiani. Plumes were rising in Hesperia but not Hellas.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Throughout July and August, MOC observations revealed a general pattern of regional storm centers beneath an ever-spreading veil of stratospheric dust. The Daedalia/Claritas/Syria storm created dust plumes on over 90 consecutive days.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Previous views and perceptions of global dust events had noted regional brightenings within the overall pall of what was called a "global duststorm." From our new observations, we know that at least this global dust "storm" was really a set of storms, somehow triggered to occur at the same time. We also know that dust was not raised from everywhere on the surface during this global event, but rather from discrete, long-lived centers of activity. We saw, for the first time, rapid, cross-equatorial flow of dust-raising winds.</div><br />Image Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS<br />Explanation from: https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/pia03170

Great Dust Storms on Mars

Two 2001 images from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter show a dramatic change in the planet's appearanc...

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Planetary System Kepler K2-138

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1-Ez6woSp66XxutmjshwBuSAJm01NIgP0Y7gqin21bo-_s93T_8PqYVbrEUnKh8CvJCBmGyQqG90w8jMTHlsxgvZdeT8nbkFCBKRykswZ5klK0I506_vSnBU5Z4Lz7eBEOdmvGI9f7GnX/s1600/Planetary-System-Kepler-K2-138.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Planetary System Kepler K2-138" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1-Ez6woSp66XxutmjshwBuSAJm01NIgP0Y7gqin21bo-_s93T_8PqYVbrEUnKh8CvJCBmGyQqG90w8jMTHlsxgvZdeT8nbkFCBKRykswZ5klK0I506_vSnBU5Z4Lz7eBEOdmvGI9f7GnX/s640/Planetary-System-Kepler-K2-138.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This artist concept shows K2-138, the first multi-planet system discovered by citizen scientists. The central star is slightly smaller and cooler than our Sun. The five known planets are all between the size of Earth and Neptune. Planet b may potentially be rocky, but planets c, d, e, and f likely contain large amounts of ice and gas. All five planets have orbital periods shorter than 13 days and are all incredibly hot, ranging from 800 to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.</div><br />Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech<br />Explanation from: https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22088

Planetary System Kepler K2-138

This artist concept shows K2-138, the first multi-planet system discovered by citizen scientists. The central star is slightly smaller and c...

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Star-Forming Region LH 72

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNUg4MIA7I-K7vBoK-RUQe0D3D8kedicSkIBuKaAYggvBSqbR0uzpa_6jKkDeafyB4OI17dxG88NXElrXz4cUixN8Sa1N_0jSmfWQRjZzorM-p8oGMQpKrsacn8tdGb33Ih7mTzZAKxabK/s1600/Star-Forming-Region-LH-72.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Star-Forming Region LH 72" border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1100" height="627" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNUg4MIA7I-K7vBoK-RUQe0D3D8kedicSkIBuKaAYggvBSqbR0uzpa_6jKkDeafyB4OI17dxG88NXElrXz4cUixN8Sa1N_0jSmfWQRjZzorM-p8oGMQpKrsacn8tdGb33Ih7mTzZAKxabK/s640/Star-Forming-Region-LH-72.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In one of the largest known star formation regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, lie young and bright stellar groupings known as OB associations. One of these associations, called LH 72, was captured in this dramatic NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. It consists of a few high-mass, young stars embedded in a beautiful and dense nebula of hydrogen gas.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Much of the star formation in the LMC occurs in super-giant shells. These regions of interstellar gas are thought to have formed due to strong stellar winds and supernova explosions that cleared away much of the material around the stars creating wind-blown shells. The swept-up gas eventually cools down and fragments into smaller clouds that dot the edges of these regions and eventually collapse to form new stars.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The biggest of these shells, home to LH 72, is designated LMC4. With a diameter of about 6000 light-years, it is the largest in the Local Group of galaxies that is home to both the Milky Way and LMC. Studying gas-embedded young associations of stars like LH 72 is a way of probing the super-giant shells to understand how they formed and evolved.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This image was taken with Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 using five different filters in ultraviolet, visible and infrared light. The field of view is approximately 1.8 by 1.8 arcminutes.</div><br />Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA and D. A. Gouliermis<br />Explanation from: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1147a/

Star-Forming Region LH 72

In one of the largest known star formation regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, lie young...

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Volcán de Colima Eruption

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3eDqzV8nqfYUGBV0XuQptKUeVTW53tmLoPsypGgign-fyeVWeQSF3pR7ReTYfseIROuJrmyw_TidMSQfMEH1gh8qLUwq-5sDml3M794xfkqLrxl3DfAah3W6UtlQnMBKJrYpO-9oYiQpI/s1600/Volcan-de-Colima-Eruption-13.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Volcán de Colima Eruption" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3eDqzV8nqfYUGBV0XuQptKUeVTW53tmLoPsypGgign-fyeVWeQSF3pR7ReTYfseIROuJrmyw_TidMSQfMEH1gh8qLUwq-5sDml3M794xfkqLrxl3DfAah3W6UtlQnMBKJrYpO-9oYiQpI/s640/Volcan-de-Colima-Eruption-13.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Colima, Mexico</div><div style="text-align: center;">January 26, 2017</div><br />Image Credit & Copyright: Sergio Tapiro

Volcán de Colima Eruption

Colima, Mexico January 26, 2017 Image Credit & Copyright: Sergio Tapiro

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Globular Cluster Messier 79

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqK3hGKID9kGMtxdxwA1CJnZphIE9fNOAvNjUIr-QgCUI2eRSOv4xS7l9qLc2xwNuDkf5krQGXZx_X3xKWv_KDGqM3kAUbUuDsLNK0xsQleshW1hy3_dCVFGOF_3O2PBhl6Ms903WZTY0/s1600/Globular-Cluster-Messier-79.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Globular Cluster Messier 79" border="0" data-original-height="1002" data-original-width="1503" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqK3hGKID9kGMtxdxwA1CJnZphIE9fNOAvNjUIr-QgCUI2eRSOv4xS7l9qLc2xwNuDkf5krQGXZx_X3xKWv_KDGqM3kAUbUuDsLNK0xsQleshW1hy3_dCVFGOF_3O2PBhl6Ms903WZTY0/s640/Globular-Cluster-Messier-79.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of a blizzard of stars, which resembles a swirling storm in a snow globe.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">These stars make up the globular cluster Messier 79, located about 40 000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Lepus (The Hare). Globular clusters are gravitationally bound groupings of up to one million stars. These giant “star globes” contain some of the oldest stars in our galaxy. Messier 79 is no exception; it contains about 150 000 stars, packed into an area measuring just roughly 120 light-years across.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This 11.7-billion-year-old star cluster was first discovered by French astronomer Pierre Méchain in 1780. Méchain reported the finding to his colleague Charles Messier, who included it in his catalogue of non-cometary objects: The Messier catalogue. About four years later, using a larger telescope than Messier’s, William Herschel was able to resolve the stars in Messier 79 and described it as a “globular star cluster.”</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In this sparkling Hubble image, Sun-like stars appear yellow-white and the reddish stars are bright giants that are in the final stages of their lives. Most of the blue stars sprinkled throughout the cluster are aging “helium-burning” stars, which have exhausted their hydrogen fuel and are now fusing helium in their cores.</div><br />Image Credit: NASA and ESA, S. Djorgovski (Caltech) and F. Ferraro (University of Bologna)<br />Explanation from: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1751a/

Globular Cluster Messier 79

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of a blizzard of stars, which resembles a swirling...

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