Astronomy Picture of the Day -- At the Core of NGC 6752

NASA ^ | February 10, 2012 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: This sharp Hubble Space Telescope view looks deep into NGC 6752. Some 13,000 light-years away toward the southern constellation Pavo, the globular star cluster roams the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. Over 10 billion years old, NGC 6752 holds over 100 thousand stars in a sphere about 100 light-years in diameter, but the Hubble image frame spans the central 10 or so light-years and resolves stars near the dense cluster core. In fact the frame includes some of the cluster's blue straggler stars, stars which appear to be too young and massive to exist in a cluster whose stars are all expected to be at least twice as old as the Sun. Explorations of the NGC 6752 have also indicated that a remarkable fraction of the stars near the cluster's core, are multiple star systems, supporting arguments that star mergers and collisions in the dense stellar environment can create the cluster's blue straggler stars.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA]

[SunkenCiv]

Sorry, I'm a day late on this one.

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[cripplecreek]

Here’s an interesting little bit of news. New Horizons in in the homestretch and is now within 10 AU of Pluto.

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/news_center/news/20120210.php

[6SJ7]

Here’s an interesting little bit of news. New Horizons in in the homestretch and is now within 10 AU of Pluto.

... and from the back seat for the last 100 million miles it's been, "Are we there yet?".

[cripplecreek]

2015 launched in 2006. Haulin ass too. About 10 miles per second.

I was confused for a few. I couldn’t figure out why the round trip light time was going down until I realized that we are moving around to the same side of the sun.

[bigheadfred]

[bigheadfred]

... and from the back seat for the last 100 million miles it's been, "Are we there yet?".

...and WHAT is that SMELL??

[bigheadfred]

I couldn’t figure out why the round trip light time was going down until I realized that we are moving around to the same side of the sun...2015 launched in 2006. Haulin ass too. About 10 miles per second.

To make one complete rotation in 24 hours, a point near the equator of the Earth must move at close to 1000 miles per hour (1600 km/hr).

For the earth to orbit the sun in one year takes a speed of 66,000 miles per hour (107,000 km/hr)3.

Relative to the local standard of rest, our Sun and the Earth are moving at about 43,000 miles per hour (70,000 km/hr) roughly in the direction of the bright star Vega in the constellation of Lyra.

The speed of the sun orbiting the Milky Way is an astounding 483,000 miles per hour (792,000 km/hr)!

And how fast is the Milky Way Galaxy moving? The speed turns out to be an astounding 1.3 million miles per hour (2.1 million km/hr)! We are moving roughly in the direction on the sky that is defined by the constellations of Leo and Virgo.

LINKAGE

[MaxMax]

You’re a day forward.

[bigheadfred]

You’re a day forward.

I am SO marking this on my calendar.

[cripplecreek]

Wonder how many miles I’ve traveled in my 48 years?

[bigheadfred]

Wonder how many miles I’ve traveled in my 48 years?

I wandered outside to ponder your question and I looked up in the sky. In the rain clouds above a HUGE smiley face was looking down at me.

So I would say, "Not enough, Cripplecreek. Not enough."

And here's to a long and fruitful journey.

[jespasinthru]

I love it when the full moon has a ring around it, especially this time of year. The perfect time to put those “special” seeds in the garden. And the Ringed Moon is a fairly rare occurrence.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

Wonder how many miles I’ve traveled in my 48 years?

In reference to what?
Earth's center: 48 x 365.2422 x 24900 = 436,537,477 miles
(at the equator, which you would have to multiply by the cosine of your average latitude)
The Sun: 48 * 93,000,000 * pi * 2 = 28 billion miles
(ignoring the slightly wavy path caused by earth's rotation)
The galactic center: 30,000 l.y. x 2 x pi / 200 million x 48 = 0.0452 light years = 262 billion miles in round numbers
And relative to the most distant known object:
UDFj-39546284: 3ct = 144 light years (very roughly)

[ADemocratNoMore]

I've long thought that the total kinetic energy at play in the universe must be staggering when you consider all the “stuff” that's in motion and the velocities involved.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks cc! It was a long slow trip just getting the thing finished and launched. At one time the (Bill and Melinda) Gates Foundation was pitched a proposal to pay to finish the job, I don’t think that it turned out that way. :’)

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, they were told to go before they left.

[SunkenCiv]

Probably Uranus.

Hey, someone had to say it.

[SunkenCiv]

Guess I’d better postdate my checks.

[SunkenCiv]

I don’t advocate what Moe used to do to poor Larry and Curly, but I do understand it.

;’)