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 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: 12/08/13 - The Tulip Nebula

Found 8,000 light-years away from Earth, in the Cygnus (swan) constellation, this gorgeous region is popularly known as the Tulip Nebula (also known as Sharpless 101 or Cygnus Star Cloud).

The American astronomer Stewart Sharpless first categorized it in 1959. It is, perhaps obviously, nicknamed the tulip nebula for its resemblance to the Earthy flower. Though, not pictured here, this nubula is in close proximity to the binary system known as Cygnus X-1, which consists of a supergiant star and a black hole. Together, they are commonly thought of as a microquasar.

The star powering it, known as HDE 227018, can be seen in the center of the image (close to the blue arc).

Sources & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-120513-the-tulip-nebula/

Image Credit: Michael Joner, David Laney (West Mountain Observatory, BYU); Processing - Robert Gendler

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/02/13 - NGC 6914

This lovely area is NGC 6914, which is located more than 6,000 light-years away in the constellation by the name of Cygnus. (It can be found near the plane of our Milky Way galaxy)

The complex star-forming region has two designated nebulae. First, we have an emission nebula (seen in the pinkish-red areas), which are created when young stars spew large quantities of ultraviolet radiation into their surrounding environment. This ultraviolet radiation excites the hydrogen gas molecules, causing them to become ionized. In turn, this ionization is responsible for powering the nebula, allowing them to glow brilliantly.

Secondly, we have a reflection nebula, which is depicted in blue. Nebulae of this type are created when light from embedded stars bounce off of tiny grains of interstellar dust. This causes the light to scatter about. Nebulae such as this tend to be blue, as the bluer end of the electromagnetic spectrum scatters light more effectively than red.

Sources & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-120213-ngc-6914/

Image Credit: Descubre Foundation, CAHA, OAUV, DSA, Vicent Peris (OAUV), Jack Harvey (SSRO), Juan Conejero (PixInsight)