Posted on 09/14/2011 3:02:59 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: To the eye, this cosmic composition nicely balances the Bubble Nebula at the lower right with open star cluster M52. The pair would be lopsided on other scales, though. Embedded in a complex of interstellar dust and gas and blown by the winds from a single, massive O-type star, the Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7635, is a mere 10 light-years wide. On the other hand, M52 is a rich open cluster of around a thousand stars. The cluster is about 25 light-years across. Seen toward the northern boundary of Cassiopeia, distance estimates for the Bubble Nebula and associated cloud complex are around 11,000 light-years, while star cluster M52 lies nearly 5,000 light-years away. The wide telescopic field of view spans about 1.5 degrees on the sky or three times the apparent size of the Full Moon.
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[Image Credit & Copyright: Lóránd Fényes]
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For those who don't know, a light year is the DISTANCE light travels in a year at its more or less constant speed of 186,000 miles per second. It works out to about 5.9 TRILLION miles. That's 5.9 THOUSAND TIMES a BILLION (miles)!
Absolutely beautiful, SunkenCiv!
Is that bubble the Death Star floating around in there?
Thanks for another great one.
Or, expressed in dollars, it’s about a 1/3 of our debt!
5.9 trillion is about 42% of the $14,000,000,000,000.00 national debt.
Hey I love Gas Clouds!
What is more interesting in that photo is M52.
Every year, many Astronomy Clubs, including the one I am in, have what is known as a Messier Marathon. The idea is to see and catalog as many of Mr. Messier’s objects as you can over the course of one night. A dark sky near March 22nd is the best time. I have seen up to 109 of the objects in one night, only missing M30 because of sky glow. I have done it enough that I can find almost all of the objects on the list from memory. M52 is one that I cannot.
It is placed in a rich part of the Milky Way, with absolutely no bright finder stars nearby. I abhor GOTO (except for astrophotography) and don’t use setting circles. This makes M52 a tough character to find. Each year, I spend more time trying to find it than almost any other.
Hey I love Gas Clouds!
What is more interesting in that photo is M52.
Every year, many Astronomy Clubs, including the one I am in, have what is known as a Messier Marathon. The idea is to see and catalog as many of Mr. Messier’s objects as you can over the course of one night. A dark sky near March 22nd is the best time. I have seen up to 109 of the objects in one night, only missing M30 because of sky glow. I have done it enough that I can find almost all of the objects on the list from memory. M52 is one that I cannot.
It is placed in a rich part of the Milky Way, with absolutely no bright finder stars nearby. I abhor GOTO (except for astrophotography) and don’t use setting circles. This makes M52 a tough character to find. Each year, I spend more time trying to find it than almost any other.
Cool! It looks as if the X-wings and the TIE fighters are about to mix it up there. I love your stuff, as usual. Great graphic you made for that last ZOT, too.
If light earned $186,000 per second...and the national debt is 14.5 trillion or 2.47 light dollars big...it would take 2 1/2 years at $186,000 per second to bring the debt down to 0 over and above paying for normal expenses. We are in a heap of $h*t. Thanks “Zero” for being the black hole of the economy. No pun intended for those ready to play the race card.
No worries. He’s not black.
Thanks ETL.
You’re welcome, and thank you for posting these educational and interesting threads.
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