Astronomy Picture of the Day |
APOD: 2000 September 24 - M16: Stars from Eagle's Eggs
Explanation:
Newborn stars are forming in the Eagle Nebula.
This image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, shows
evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs)
emerging from pillars of molecular
hydrogen gas and
dust.
The giant pillars are
light years in length
and are so dense that interior gas contracts gravitationally to form stars.
At each pillars' end,
the intense radiation of bright young stars
causes low density material to boil away,
leaving stellar nurseries of dense EGGs exposed.
The
Eagle Nebula, associated with the
open star cluster
M16, lies about 7000
light years away.
APOD: 1999 June 4 - NGC 3603: From Beginning To End
Explanation:
From beginning to end, different stages of a star's life appear in
this exciting Hubble Space Telescope picture of the environs
of galactic emission nebula
NGC 3603.
For the beginning, eye-catching "pillars" of glowing
hydrogen at the right signal
newborn stars emerging
from their dense, gaseous, nurseries.
Less noticeable,
dark clouds
or "Bok globules" at the top
right corner are likely part of a still earlier stage, prior to their
collapse to form stars.
At picture center lies a cluster of bright
hot blue stars whose strong
winds and ultraviolet radiation have cleared away nearby material.
Massive and young, they will soon exhaust their nuclear fuel.
Nearing the end of its life, the bright supergiant
star Sher 25 is
seen above and left of the cluster, surrounded by a glowing ring and flanked
by ejected blobs of gas.
The ring structure is reminiscent of
Supernova 1987a and Sher 25
itself may be only a few thousand years from its
own devastating finale.
But what about planets?
Check out the two
teardrop-shaped objects below the cluster
toward the bottom of the picture.
Although larger, these emission nebulae are similar to suspected
proto-planetary disks (proplyds) encompassing stars in the Orion Nebula.
APOD: 1996 December 7 - Planetary Systems Now Forming in Orion
Explanation:
How do planets form? Astronomers are finding
out by studying one of the most interesting of all astronomical
nebulae known, the Great Nebula in Orion.
Insets to above mosaic
show several planetary systems in
formation. The bottom left insert shows the relative size of
our own Solar System. The Orion Nebula
contains many stellar nurseries. These nurseries contain hydrogen
gas, hot young stars, proplyds, and
stellar jets spewing material at
high speeds. Much of the filamentary structure visible in this
image are actually shock waves
- fronts where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas.
Some shock waves are visible near one of the bright stars in the
lower left of the picture. The Orion Nebula
is located in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy
as is our Sun.
Authors & editors:
Robert
Nemiroff
(MTU)
& Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Technical Rep.:
Jay Norris.
Specific rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA/
GSFC
&
Michigan Tech. U.