Astronomy Photo of the Day: A Volcanic Eruption of Galactic Proportions: 1/12/2014

Most of us have probably heard about super eruptions, but for those of us who aren’t familiar with them, these are massive volcanic explosions that make ordinary eruptions look like nothing more than a bit of steam. So, what happens with a super eruption? In essence, the volcano erupts; people are drowned beneath mountains of lava; a looming cloud of sulfur dioxide gets carried over the globe; the Earth plunges into a volcanic winter; countless species die.

Fun times.

Of course, not all super eruptions are this catastrophic, but the basic point remains the same: A super eruption is a natural disaster of monumental proportions. And for whatever reason, humans are obsessed with annihilation. We love to witness the awesome power of a tornado, the havoc brought by earthquakes, and the explosive power of meteoroids. This drive has made “Storm Chaser” an actual job title.

This image by photographer Yuga Kurita shows an eruption that is just as awe inspiring as ordinary eruptions, but is (thankfully) far less destructive. In Japan, many individuals traverse the side of Mt. Fuji after sundown in order to see the sunrise from the volcanic peak. In order to avoid an undesirable tumble, the travelers use flashlights to guide them.

Kurita explained the creation of the image, writing that, “when I arrived at Fujiyoshida in Yamanashi Prefecture, I saw people climbing up Mt. Fuji with flash lights and I thought they looked like lava streams. Then I came up with this composition, since nowadays, the Milky Way appears vertically in the sky so probably I could liken Mt. Fuji to an imaginary galactic volcano, that is, people climbing up with torches are lava streams and the Milky Way is the volcano smoke.”

Sources:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-photo-of-the-day-a-volcanic-eruption-of-galactic-proportions-1122014/

Image via: https://www.facebook.com/kuriyuga

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 01/11/14 - NGC 1316

When two galaxies collide, the aftereffects are typically noticeable to any outside onlookers (the tad pole galaxies and the Mice galaxies are two notable examples). However, the aftereffects are generally not nearly as peculiar as what we see here, with this unusual galaxy. NGC 1316 (its formal designation) is located about 75 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Fornax. This jumbled mess of a galaxy spans about 60,000 light-years across - making it much smaller than our home galaxy of the Milky Way - yet it contains exponentially more gas and dust, which give life to new stars.

Astronomers have deduced that this unique looking galaxy is actually an elliptical galaxy of epic proportions, but by a strange twist of fate, it just so happens to have the dark dust (or knot) lanes typically attributed to spiral galaxies -- suggesting that one or more of the galaxies absorbed by NGC 1316 were spiral in nature. Similarly, more evidence was uncovered to suggest that NGC 1316 is the result of several celestial collisions. This evidence comes in the form of several low-mass globular clusters found lurking within the vicinity of NGC 1316"s central region (yes, it has one). Many of the stars that inhabit the cluster still bear the scars of the long-ended mergers, especially as far as distribution is concerned.

Sources & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-ngc-1316/

Image Credit: P. Goudfrooij (STScI), Hubble Heritage Team, (STScI/AURA), ESA, NASA

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 01/09/13 - Orion"s Sword in the Winter Sky

This epic picture was captured by Mike Berenson at Colorado Captures. It reveals the splendor of one of the night sky"s biggest attractions - the Sword of Orion. This region of the sky houses the Orion nebula (the very bright pinkish/blue one), among other interesting objects and features. Altogether, this little region of sky is one of the most viewed regions and best studied regions in the entire celestial hemisphere.



The Orion nebula is the closest nebula to Earth, residing at a distance of 1300 light years. This makes it a hot destination for professional astronomers who want to study the nebula"s intricate detail. Amateur astronomers turn their eye to Orion because it is one of the most stunning objects in the night sky.

http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-010913-orions-sword-in-the-winter-sky/

Image Credit: Mike Berenson (Colorado Captures)

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 01/08/14 - NGC 2170

NGC 2170 is a spectacular nebular region located in the constellation Monoceros. Part of this beauty lies in the fact that it is a region bearing many different types of nebulae. We have a reflection nebula that is surrounded by other blueish reflection nebulae, black absorption nebulae and a red emission region. Areas such as this tend to be hot beds for star formation activity, which gives us plenty of eye candy to look at.

Speaking of star formation activity; this region lies on the edge of a molecular cloud, which is known as Mon R2. It can be found close in the sky to the Orion nebula, but it is currently estimated to be almost twice as far away (making it around 2,400 light-years from Earth).

NGC 2170 is thought to span about 80 light-years across. Just to give you a sense of how incredibly large this is, our solar system is sometimes estimated to be about 15 light-hours across (one light year extends 9.5 trillion kilometers [or about 6 trillion miles]) The distance that separates our solar system from our closest neighbor (in the Alpha Centauri star system) is about 4.37 light-years. That number only says how long it would take a photon traveling from the sun at the speed of light to reach it, not a space ship or one of the voyager probes (it would take thousands of years to journey to the closest star, Proxima Centauri, going at top speed). In this stellar nebula, it takes light 80 YEARS to travel from one side to the other. Very large indeed!

Sources & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-ngc-2170/

Image Credit: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, U. Arizona

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 01/05/14 - IC 4678

This magnificent image has several areas of interest: First and foremost, we have the Lagoon nebula, one of the most photographed star forming regions in our galaxy. Pictured close-by is IC 4678, an emission nebula comprised of glowing red gas, surrounded by intricate filaments of material. Moving onward, we see a small reflection nebula (the small blue area containing two bright stars). Lastly, we have a dark absorption nebula, which contains so much opaque dust, the activity going on inside of the area is obscured from sight.

IC 4678 (and its respective regions) can be found more than 5,000 light-years away in the Sagittarius constellation. Overall, the area spans more than 25 light-years across.

Sources & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-ic-4678/

Image Credit: Ken Siarkiewicz & Adam Block, NOAO, AURA, NSF

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 01/04/14 - The Fireworks Galaxy

To start off 2014 right, this is the Fireworks Galaxy, aptly named given its brilliance. NGC 6946, as it is formally known as, lies about 10 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cepheus. When it was originally discovered by Sir William Herschel, the galaxy was widely believed to be a member of our local group, which is made up of over 50 galaxies, including several other dwarf-galaxies. It wasn"t until years later that astronomers discovered that the reddening seen enveloping the galaxy was from interstellar dust grains, obscuring our view (instead of red-shift).

Speaking of red, the applicable areas are star forming regions, teeming with new-life -- while the blue bits are actually celestial members of our own galaxy, which are obstructing our view of NGC 6946. Interestingly, several new supernova remnants have been discovered each year for the last 60 lurking within NGC 6946"s spiral arms. This is very unusual, as it is normal to only witness one supernova blast every 30 years in galaxies similar to our own.

References & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-fireworks-galaxy/

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Kennicutt (U. of Ariz./Inst. of Astr., U. of Cambridge) and the SINGS Team

Astronomy Photo of the Day: The Multiwavelength Sun 1/3/2014

Unfortunately, humans can only see light from a very small part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Quite literally, there is a whole universe out there that we can"t see. Fortunately, we have technology to aid us.

This fantastic image of the Sun shows us how our star looks from the visible part of the spectrum to the extreme reaches of the ultraviolet wavelengths. Of course, the light received by our observatories had to be translated into a color that we could see, so this isn"t *actually* what ultraviolet light looks like; however, the image does give us a pretty good idea of how much of our the Sun we can"t see.

Want to know how much of the universe we are missing? See:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-photo-of-the-day-the-multiwavelength-sun-132014/

Image:
NASA

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 01/02/14 - The Lagoon Nebula

This is the Lagoon Nebula, which is also known as M8. This fascinating object can be found within the constellation Sagittarius about 5,000 light-years away. This image stretches about 60-light-years.

The Lagoon Nebula is a stellar nursery responsible for cranking out the next generation of stars in the Milky Way. Near the center of the nebula, you can see the star cluster NGC 6530. This open cluster is currently carving out the Lagoon with solar winds from the hot young stars. Scattered throughout the lagoon, you can see little cocoons shielding more new star systems from view.

To read the full article, see: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-010214-the-lagoon-nebula/

Image Credit: Ignacio Diaz Bobillo

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 01/01/14 - The Magellanic Stream

No, that"s not a bleach stain on the Milky Way. This object is called the Magellanic Stream. It was discovered in 1965 in the southern hemisphere of the Milky Way, covering at least 180 degrees of sky (it"s about 600,000 light-years in length). The mysterious structure is located about 180,000 light-years from the Milky Way. The gas moves at excessive speeds, and in a direction that doesn"t match patterns found within the Milky Way. As a result, it has been the source of much astronomical scrutiny.

However, the long search for the object that spawned this beast is over. This structure was found to originate from the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. Through this new data, originating from Hubble"s Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, scientists were able to determine that the material was likely freed from the gravitational bondage of the two satellite galaxies some 2-billion years ago, when the two galaxies interacted with each other. Most of the material is thought to originate from the Small Magellanic Cloud because it"s smaller and would have felt a stronger pull from the bullying Large Magellanic Cloud.

Another mystery solved. Yay.

Sources and further reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-010114-the-magellanic-stream/

Image Credit: D. Nidever et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF, A. Mellinger, LAB Survey, Parkes, Westerbork, and Arecibo Obs.

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/30/13 - A Cosmic Superbubble

This striking "cosmic superbubble" lies near the star cluster known as NGC 1929, which is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud -- one of the small satellite galaxies of the Milky Way.

Taken using the European Space Observatory"s "Very Large Telescope," here, you can see the many regions in the nebula, officially known as LHA 120-N 44, that are actively producing new stars. Said young stars are beaming intense rays of ultraviolet radiation into the surrounding expanse of space, causing the gas present to glow this brilliant shade of red.

As I briefly mentioned earlier, this region of space is inhabited by a super-bubble. Cosmic phenomena that shape this kind of structure do not actually form conventional bubbles. Instead, they are vast shells of material (such as gas and dust) that are shaped by the destructive forces of the UV radiation emanating from the central stars.

N 44 (the bubble"s formal classification) is actually very large. Its dimensions are estimated to be about 325 light-years by 250 LY. For instance, WASP-10b is a planetary system located about 300 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Pegasus. While our nearest galactic neighbors lie a little more than 4 light-years from Earth in the Alpha Centauri system. This bubble is so large, it could encase all three planetary systems!

Sources & Additional References: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-a-cosmic-superbubble/

Image Credit: Manu Mejias/ESO

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/29/13 - PKS 0745-19

Located in a galaxy far, far away in the constellation known as Puppis, lies some of the most massive black holes discovered to date. Some of which, weigh any where from ten to four billion solar masses, effectively reaffirming the long held notion that black holes are strange objects indeed, and there is still much that we don"t understand about them.

PKS 0745 is an elliptical galaxy located approximately 1.3 BILLION light-years from Earth, and it is the central galaxy from a cluster of galaxies known as PKS 0745-19. A survey was conducted with eighteen of the supermassive black holes from PKS 0745, including the black hole at PKS 0745"s galactic center. What they found, is that some of these "ultramassive" black holes are over ten times more massive than previously thought. Interestingly, each "ultramassive" black hole currently discovered lurking at the heart of a galaxy contains an abnormally large quantity of hot gas, which produces diffuse x-ray emissions (pictured here in purple). When these black holes munch on stellar material, cavities are created within the surrounding gas, prohibiting the gas from cooling and collapsing to form new stars.

Optical data (yellow) was provided by the Hubble Space Telescope, with x-rays (purple) coming from the Chandra x-ray observatory. Also used in this composite is radio data from the NSF"s "Very Large Array "(JVLA) and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). Infrared data came from the 2 Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS).

References & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-pks-0745/

Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Stanford/Hlavacek-Larrondo, J. et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA

Astronomy Photo of the Day: 12/28/2013 - The Little Ghost Nebula

This eerie image is of vdB 141, otherwise known as “the Ghost Nebula.” The grasping figures that are stretching out of the dust cloud seem oddly reminiscent of the ghostly terrors that plague people in horror stories. Unsurprisingly, these figures are responsible for giving this structuring its title.

Learn about this amazing structure at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-the-little-ghost-nebula/

Image:
NASA

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/26/13 - The Celestial Snow Angel

In this awesome image, captured by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, we see a stellar nursery. But this isn"t just any nursery; it seems that these stellar babies are guarded by a colossal celestial angel. Talk about a mind-blowing case of pareidolia, right?

The region, dubbed Sharpless 2-106 (otherwise known as Sh2-106 or S106), is located more than 2,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus. One massive star is responsible for the bulk of the properties seen in the area. The angel shape was created by twin lobes of superheated gas expanding in two separate directions from the central region (where the star remains).

Inside the wings of our angel, we can see the stark contrast between the heat and the motion of the gas, projected with a much colder medium. Through interactions between the gas, dust, and the interstellar medium, we get the hour-glass shape seen surrounding the central star.

Sources & Additional Resources: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-sharples-2-106/

Image Credit: NASA/ESA

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/26/13 - The Snowflake Cluster

And in yet another holiday-themed image, we come across a quaint little cluster of stars - aptly called the Snowflake Cluster - hanging out in the neighborhood of the famous cone nebula. The pair are located approximately 2,500 light-years from Earth in the Monoceros constellation.



The region is populated by a large number of stars that are currently in the process of forming. When viewed at non-optical wavelengths, the protostars appear as pink or red tiny, patchy dots in the sky -- like snow... very deadly snow. In any event, now you know where it got its name! Too bad that when the protostars arise from their cocoon - during the transition into main-sequence mode - their impact on the region will be seen and felt throughout.

References: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-the-snowflake-cluster/

Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, P. S. Teixeira (CfA)

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/25/13 - The Christmas Tree Cluster

From all of us here at From Quarks to Quasars, we want to wish you a very merry Christmas (and a happy new yeeearrrr). Following along with the tradition of yesterday"s APOD, we wanted to feature another deep space region that has a festive, Christmas vibe. Alas.. no image is more appropriate than this; The Christmas Tree Cluster (also known as NGC 2264).

It occupies an expanse of space about 2600 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Monoceros. Other than the obvious Christmas Tree Cluster, this "heavenly" area also includes several notable star-forming regions, like the Cone nebula, as well as the Fox Fur nebula.

Along with many other astronomical delights, William Herschel is credited with discovering NGC 2264. Upon his initial observation (when he was putting together his "great sky survey" in the 18th century), he spotted a large, visually stunning star at the top of the nebula -- resembling an angel ornament at the top of a celestial Christmas tree. It wasn"t until years later, when astronomers pointed modern telescopes to the area, that the multiple stars of the cluster emerged from the proverbial night time.

This area is dominated by the color red due to the intense ultraviolet radiation beaming from the stars within, which interacts with the hydrogen, causing it to glow. The small swatches of blue come from the central stars, which are much more massive than our sun is. All of them are metal-poor, which results in the stars burning rapidly and exploding in a supernova in just a fraction of the time it would take for stars of our sun"s caliber. The blue light emitted from these stars is scattered by the dust and gas clouds.

References & Additional Resources: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-christmas-tree-cluster/

Image Credit: ESO

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/24/13 - The Christmas Ornament Nebula

Happy Holidays from those of us here on the FQTQ team. To get in the festive spirit, we thought we would showcase one of the "christmassy" nebulae out there. This particular one, curiously dubbed the "Christmas Ornament nebula" (also known as NGC 5189), is a planetary nebula that can be found approximately 1,780 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Musca.

The planetary nebula stage of stellar evolution is one of the last few transitions a sun-like star experiences as the star begins to die. As the process of death culminates - resulting in the destruction of anything too close by - stars of this type begin "bleeding" out material into the interstellar medium. This material is subsequently shaped by a number of different phenomena (like stellar winds), thus forming a brilliant nebula similar to the one seen here.

Incredibly (and luckily for us), no two planetary nebulae have looked identical visually.

References & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-christmas-ornament-nebula/

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/23/13 - NGC 1333

This is a beautiful, but chaotic image of the reflection nebula known as NGC 1333, which lies about 1,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Perseus.

In the center of this deep space photo, thousands of baby stars are being born, but their light is obstructed by thick clouds of dust -- thus classifying it as a member of the dark nebula family. In the same token, the clouds that are responsible for blocking the light are also reflecting the optical light we see here. This, in turn, is responsible for the nebula"s predominantly blue glow, which makes NGC 1333 part reflection nebula as well.

Other than the striking blue hue appointed to the region by the newborn stars, this nebula also is also home to red-hued jets that peek into the image from the bottom, center. These jets are made up of ionized gases, which are energized by the ultraviolet radiation blasted out into the interstellar medium through stellar winds from the proto-stars. Overall, the jets give the region characteristics of an emission nebulae as well.

Lastly, astronomers have found around 50 brown-dwarfs within the nebula, which is a larger part of the Perseus molecular cloud. Also nearby is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, which contains about 3,000 solar masses of material. One such member of the brown-dwarf family belonging to the nebula is six times more massive than Jupiter, making it one of the smallest free-floating objects currently known of.

References & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-122313-ngc-1333/

Image Credit: Adam Block, Sid Leach, Mount Lemmon Observatory

Astronomy Photo of the Day: 12/22/2013

This eerie bubble looks like a massive plume of fog rolling across the cosmos, but don’t be fooled, this beast won’t create a nice chill on a warm evening. The smoke-like material is actually rather hot. Amazingly hot, in fact. That’s because the sphere is composed of gas that was cast off from a star that is several hundred thousand times more luminous and around 45 times more massive than our Sun.

Learn about this amazing image at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-photo-of-the-day-12222013/

Image:
NASA

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/21/13 - Elephant"s Trunk Nebula

This beauty is IC 13961 (more commonly known as the Elephant"s Trunk Nebula); a region that lies about 2,400 light-years from Earth in the quaint constellation of Cepheus. Also within the vicinity of IC 13961 is the larger emission nebula called IC 1396, where extremely hot, glowing clouds of gas and dust reside. These clouds are known to absorb the light emitted in optical wavelengths from the baby stars buried within the nebula. They would remain hidden from our sensitive telescopes without special filters that can detect light in infrared or ultraviolet, alluding to the presence of younger, still cool protostars that are just beginning to emerge from their stellar cocoons.

Most emission nebulae such as this one, are often found in regions of space where new stars are furiously being created from collapsing clouds of hydrogen gas. All emission nebulae are responsible for absorbing the optical light and energy from neighboring stars, until the clouds become ionized, causing them to brilliantly glow until they can be seen using special telescope tools. Astronomers subsequently use the information to put together nebulae as they are seen at multiple wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum.

One pair of young stars in the cluster, known as LkHa 349 and LkHa 349c (catchy, right?), can be seen both at optical and infrared wavelengths through a spherical opening near the elongated dark globule of the Elephant"s "trunk," with one of the stars being much fainter optically than its partner. Interestingly, both of them look roughly the same magnitude when seen in infrared, which suggests that there"s some sort of a circumstellar disk around LkHa 349c. It"s quite likely that this circumstellar disk will eventually give birth to a planetary system in the next few millions of years, as the material collects and coalesces into planets and moons.

References & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-elephants-trunk-nebula/

Image Credit: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope / Coelum

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/20/13 - Dust Devil Trails on Mars

When most of us think of the Red Planet, we picture a dead planet, home to a seemingly endless red horizon, chock-full of rock and dust, with the sun appearing as a much smaller point in the sky than the huge, blindingly bright orb we are used to. All of those are true, but Mars is actually much more than that. Images such as this help showcase its true marvels.

The image, taken by the HiRISE camera (belonging to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) at around noon (Martian-time), captures one of the most magnificent dust devil trails ever seen on Mars. These storms tend to be unpredictable and can quickly grow from a contained storm, to almost engulf the entire planet in howling wind. (some of the "dust devils," which are essentially miniature tornadoes, can become up to 8 kilometers in height.)

The storms generally occur when warm air rises and cool air sinks, creating horizontal winds that began spinning until they form a vortex. On Mars, we can clearly see the color of the sand (which is actually dark grey beneath the thin film of iron oxide, due to the presence of basalt). The dust devils are known to disrupt the outermost layer, revealing the colorful landscape pictured here.

Sources and Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-122013-dust-devil-trails-on-mars/

Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA