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Juan_Bottom wrote:I was being sarcastic, mr smartypants.
This false-color image is a combination of four different telescopes. It includes a colored view from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (blue), the Spitzer Space Telescope (red), the Hubble Space Telescope (green) and the Chandra X-ray Observatory (purple). The shape is believed to have been caused by a collision with another galaxy, likely one of the two pictured below and to the left. This collision is estimated to have occurred almost 200 million years ago.
The Cartwheel galaxy is roughly 500 million light-years away from Earth and only slightly bigger, roughly 30-50%, than our own Milky Way. If you wish to see it, point your telescopes just below the constellations Pisces and Cetus in the southern hemisphere. One thing to note is that if you look closely, you can see the effects of the supermassive black hole in the center as it pulls matter back towards the middle of the galaxy.
Approximately 100 million years ago, a smaller galaxy plunged through the heart of Cartwheel galaxy, creating ripples of brief star formation. In this image, the first ripple appears as an ultraviolet-bright blue outer ring. The blue outer ring is so powerful in the Galaxy Evolution Explorer observations that it indicates the Cartwheel is one of the most powerful UV-emitting galaxies in the nearby universe. The blue color reveals to astronomers that associations of stars 5 to 20 times as massive as our sun are forming in this region. The clumps of pink along the outer blue ring are regions where both X-rays and ultraviolet radiation are superimposed in the image. These X-ray point sources are very likely collections of binary star systems containing a blackhole (called massive X-ray binary systems). The X-ray sources seem to cluster around optical/ultraviolet-bright supermassive star clusters.
The yellow-orange inner ring and nucleus at the center of the galaxy result from the combination of visible and infrared light, which is stronger towards the center. This region of the galaxy represents the second ripple, or ring wave, created in the collision, but has much less star formation activity than the first (outer) ring wave. The wisps of red spread throughout the interior of the galaxy are organic molecules that have been illuminated by nearby low-level star formation. Meanwhile, the tints of green are less massive, older visible-light stars.
Although astronomers have not identified exactly which galaxy collided with the Cartwheel, two of three candidate galaxies can be seen in this image to the bottom left of the ring, one as a neon blob and the other as a green spiral.
Previously, scientists believed the ring marked the outermost edge of the galaxy, but the latest GALEX observations detect a faint disk, not visible in this image, that extends to twice the diameter of the ring.
Located 13,000 light years away in the constellation of Cygnus, this planetary nebula was discovered by amateur astronomer Matthias Kronberger among photos from the Digital Sky Survey.
The Soccer Ball Nebula, Kronberger 61 - The term “planetary nebula” is something of a misnomer that has stuck around over time because these objects resembled gas giants when viewed through early, low-res telescopes. They form when the core of a red giant collapses. The dying star begins to shed its outer layers in the form of gas, aided by stellar winds and its own pulsations. The exposed hot core emits ultraviolet radiation that ionizes the atoms in the expelled gas and causes them to glow.
The almost perfectly spherical shape of the Soccer Ball Nebula is an anomaly—most planetary nebula are more elongated. Its structure has further fueled an ongoing debate among astronomers regarding whether or not these planetary nebulae require the gravitational or magnetic pull of a companion object (like another star or a large planet) in order to form their complex structures. Time and further studies will tell, but in the meantime, this discovery by an amateur serves as a great reminder to keep our eyes to the skies!
natty_dread wrote:Do ponies have sex?
(proud member of the Occasionally Wrongly Banned)Army of GOD wrote:the term heterosexual is offensive. I prefer to be called "normal"
john9blue wrote:relevant:
http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.c ... not_a_nerd
very funny, although i'm not one to extinguish a genuine love for science
natty_dread wrote:Do ponies have sex?
(proud member of the Occasionally Wrongly Banned)Army of GOD wrote:the term heterosexual is offensive. I prefer to be called "normal"
john9blue wrote:just another part of the subculture of phony pseudo-intellectualism
Army of GOD wrote:also that link reminds me of this stupid motherfucking iPhone commercial:
;awoiejra;weoirjaw;eorwaer
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