Posts Tagged ‘Spitzer’
December 4, 2011
by tte-77
Four newly found red galaxies. Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA)
Astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) have discovered four examples of a new “species” of very red galaxy in the early universe. Located 13 billion light-years from Earth not even Hubble can see it. Being sensitive to infrared light NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has been able to reveal not one, but four very red galaxies. It’s a mystery though… what makes them so red in colour?
Astronomers can’t explain it. They might be very dusty or might contain many old, red stars, they may even be very distant. All three reasons seem to apply to the these newly discovered galaxies.
Interestingly all four galaxies are grouped near each other and appear to be physically associated. Due to their great distance, viewing from Earth shows them as they were only a billion years after the Big Bang when the first galaxies formed.
Researchers plan to search for more examples of this new “species” of very red galaxies analyzing more Spitzer and Hubble observations to track them down.
Source: EarthSky
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Posted in Astronomy, Galaxy, NASA, Spitzer, tte-77 | Tagged astonomers, Center for Astrophysics, colour, discovery, distance, earth, galaxies, Harvard, hubble, image, infared, NASA, postaweek2011, red, space, Space Telescope, Spitzer, telescope | Leave a Comment »
June 17, 2011
by yaska77
The Spitzer Space Telescope has captured this stunning false colour image of a vast cloud of gas and dust where new stars have recently formed.
Astronomers believe rings like this are sculpted by the powerful light of giant “O” stars, the most massive type of star known to exist. Named RCW 120 this region of hot gas and glowing dust can be found by the tail of the constellation Scorpius.
The green ring of dust is actually glowing in infrared colors that our eyes can’t see, but show up brightly when viewed by Spitzer’s infrared detectors. At the center of the ring are a couple of giant stars whose intense ultraviolet light carved out the bubble, though they blend in with the other stars when viewed in infrared.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Rings like this are so common in Spitzer’s observations that astronomers have even enlisted the help of the public to help find and catalog them all. Budding amateur astronomers interested in joining the search as a “citizen scientist” can visit “The Milky Way Project“, part of the “Zooniverse” of public astronomy projects.
The flat plane of our galaxy is located toward the bottom of the full picture (click above to enlarge, it’s the green haze seen at the bottom of the full image), with the ring is just above it.
Green Lantern‘s power ring perhaps?!
Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Posted in Astronomy, NASA, Nebula, yaska77 | Tagged amateur, Astronomers, Caltech, false colour image, galaxy, green, Green Lantern, image, infrared, JPL, Milky Way Project, NASA, Nebula, O Stars, photo, picture, plane, postaweek2011, power, power ring, RCW 120, ring, Scorpius, space, Spitzer, Stars, telescope, ultraviolet, Zooniverse | Leave a Comment »
May 24, 2011
by yaska77
This new large Chandra image shows the “Carina Nebula“, a star-forming region in the Sagittarius-Carina arm of the Milky Way only 7,500 light years from Earth.
Chandra’s sharp X-ray vision has detected over 14,000 stars in this region, revealed in a diffuse X-ray glow, and provided strong evidence that massive stars have already self-destructed in this fantastic “supernova factory”.
Carina Nebula (Click to enlarge, it's big!) - Credit: NASA/CXC/PSU/L.Townsley et al.
Lower energy X-rays in this image are red, medium energy X- rays are green, and the highest energy X-rays are blue. The Chandra survey has a large field of 1.4 square degrees, made of a mosaic of 22 individual Chandra pointings.
In total, this image represents 1.2 million seconds – or nearly two weeks – of Chandra observing time. Multi-wavelength data has been used in combination with this new Chandra campaign, including infrared observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Very Large Telescope (VLT).
Full article at Chandra site
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Posted in Chandra, Image gallery, NASA, Nebula, Supernova, yaska77 | Tagged astrophotography, carina, chandra, composite, CXC, earth, factory, imaging, large, milky way, NASA, Nebula, postaweek2011, PSU, sagittarius, space, Spitzer, star-forming, Stars, supernova, telescope, very, VLT, x-ray | 1 Comment »
April 7, 2011
by yaska77
The image below details two different views of the same baby star; to the left is the visible-light image, the right side is an infrared taken by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope’s IRAC (InfraRed Array Camera). This new image has shown the star has a second (previously hidden), identical jet shooting off in the opposite direction of the first, which was buried behind a dark cloud.
Credit: NASA/JPL (Caltech) /A.Raga (ICN_UNAM)/A.Noriega-Crespo (SSC_Caltech)
The Spitzer image shows that both of the twin jets (in a system called Herbig-Haro 34 which is approximately 1,400 light years away, in the constellation Orion), are made up of identical knots of gas and dust ejected one after another from the area around the star. Also just about visible in both views are arc-shaped bow shocks, seen at the ends of the twin jets. The shocks consist of material compressed in front of the jets.
More information and images can be found here.
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Posted in NASA, Night sky, yaska77 | Tagged baby star, Caltech, dust, gas, Herbig-Haro 34, hidden, jet, JPL, NASA, Nebula, Orion, postaweek2011, Spitzer | Leave a Comment »
April 5, 2011
by yaska77
Regular visitors to this blog will know by now we have a special affinity with the Orion nebula. Partly because it is a truly awesome sight, but also because it’s one of the first deep-sky images we took for ourselves with our own equipment (first attempt here).
Recently NASA’s Spitzer space telescope aimed its mirror at the nebula again, taking this breathtaking image.
Credit: NASA/JPL/Spitzer
The bright white stars to the left of centre are known as the “Trapezium Cluster” (the brightest of which are 4 main stars grouped together, as can be seen in our image too), and radiation and winds emanating from the young stars have sculpted the surrounding dust/gas cloud.
Brightness of young stars can change dramatically (unlike more stable older stars) due to either cold or hot spots (which are a feature of younger stars) and dust or gaseous material passing in front reducing the light escaping in our direction.
This image was taken soon after the start of Spitzer’s “Warm Mission” period, which began once the telescope had used up its supply of coolant. Without liquid helium to cool the telescope most instruments on Spitzer no longer function. However, the two shortest wavelength modules of the IRAC (InfraRed Array Camera) are still operable with the same sensitivity as before.
Further information and images can be found on the NASA/JPL Spitzer site.
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Posted in Image gallery, NASA, Nebula, yaska77 | Tagged cluster, IRAC, JPL, NASA, Nebula, nursery, Orion, postaweek2011, space, Spitzer, star, stella, telescope, trapezium | Leave a Comment »
