Hoag’s Object Hoag’s Object is a non typical galaxy of a type known as a ring galaxy. It is a nearly perfect ring of hot blue stars which circle around the yellow nucleus of this ring galaxy. The galaxy is approximately 600 million light years away from the constellation Serpens. Image credit: NASA
Remember kids: Pluto is not a planet, WAS never a planet, and any acknowledgement of Pluto as a planet was an error of assumption
The Boomerang Nebula (Bow-tie Nebula)
The Boomerang Nebula is about 5000 light years away from the Earth, situated in the constellation Centaurus and is the coldest place known in the entire universe at a temperature of 1K. According to the astronomers, the nebula houses a central dying star which has been losing one-thousandth of a solar mass of material from the last 1500 years. The bow-tie shape of the nebula is said to have formed due to very fierce winds (blowing at about 500,000 kmph) blowing the ultra cold gas away from the dying star.
Image credit: Hubble/NASA/ESA
lesbians in space
The Spanish Dancer and her supernova by strongmanmike2002 on Flickr.
IC 5148 is a beautiful planetary nebula located some 3000 light-years away in the constellation of Grus (The Crane). The nebula has a diameter of a couple of light-years, and it is still growing at over 50 kilometres per second — one of the fastest expanding planetary nebulae known. The term “planetary nebula” arose in the 19th century, when the first observations of such objects — through the small telescopes available at the time — looked somewhat like giant planets. Although the name stuck, it represents the expanding shell of gas ejected from old red giant stars late in their lives.
And now this one resembles a lovely blossom with layered petals.
Credit: European Southern Observatory
It’s easy to get lost in this Hubble image of NGC 339. Located in the Small Magellanic Cloud, it lies around 200,000 LY away. By measuring the brightnesses and colors of the stars of NGC 339, astronomers are able to estimate the age of the cluster at around 6.5 billion years old. In the background of this image, neighboring galaxies are revealed as fuzzy, extended blobs. Can you spot one? (Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt)