Category Archives: Pictures

Space pictures

Pictures

Supernova remnants from Large Magellanic Cloud

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Supernova - NASA
What remains of a supernova that exploded in the Large Magellanic Cloud

A millennium ago, about 160,000 light years away from the Milky Way galaxy, a supernova exploded in the Large Magellanic Cloud (a satellite galaxy to the Milky Way). The Spitzer space telescope’s advanced instruments picked up the infrared light emitted by dust from the remnants (red), the ambient background areas (green, yellow) and the remaining stars (blue). The closely grouped set of blue stars in the lower right of the image is the cluster known as NGC 1850. Spitzer’s Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) was used to compile the data for this picture.

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Pictures

Eistla region on Venus

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Eistla - NASA
NASA’s Magellan spacecraft took this picture of the Eistla region on Venus

The Magellan spacecraft took this picture of planet Venus (also known as the Morning star and Evening star) in early 1996. It focuses on the Eistla region on Venus located at 12.3 north latitude, 8.3 degrees east longitude and represents an area 160 km  by 250 km on Venus. This picture shows the distinctive “pancake domes” – referred to as such due to their flat tops. These volcanic domes can be up to 65 km across but only go about 1 km in height and were formed by volcanic extrusions of sticky/viscous lava on planet Venus.

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Pictures

Comet ISON

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Comet ISON - NASA
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope took this picture of Comet ISON

Since its discovery in 2012, Comet ISON (C/2012 S1) generated a lot of interest and intrigue before meeting its end at the hands of the Sun. It was named “ISON” after the organization where its discovery was made, using the initials of the Russian International Scientific Optical Network. The Hubble Space Telescope took this picture of Comet ISON in July 2013 as it was rocketing toward the Sun at a whopping speed of 48,000 mph. The comet itself was believed to be very cold thanks to an icy nucleus and a tail streaming copious amounts of gas and dust. It disintegrated into the Sun on December 1-2, 2013.

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Pictures

Blue Tadpole Protostar

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Proto-star - NASA
This clump of gas and dust, the Blue Tadpole, is a proto-star

The Blue Tadpole is a clump of gas and dust, and is officially named IRAS 20324+4057. The intense blue glow seen in this Hubble picture is caused by nearby stars firing ultraviolet radiation towards it. The “head” of the tadpole contains multiple burgeoning new stars,  though the glowing yellow one in this image is the largest and most luminous.  Protostars eventually emerge as young stars once they have gathered enough mass from their  surrounding environment. IRAS 20324+4057 as seen here is about 4,700 light years from Earth, making its way through the constellation Cygnus.

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Stars in the Flame Nebula

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Flame Nebula - NASA
A cluster of stars, NGC 2024, in the Flame Nebula in the constellation of Orion

1,400 light years away from Earth lies the Flame Nebula in the constellation of Orion. Within it lie star clusters that are being studied by astronomers as they try and learn more about the birth of stars. This composite image was created using data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope. According to the latest research which combined the Chandra and Spitzer data, the stars at the center of this cluster (NGC 2024)  could be approximately 200,000 years old while those on the outskirts are likely to be about 1.5 million years in age.

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