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Astronomy Picture of the Day 1-13-03
NASA ^
| 1-13-03
| Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell
Posted on 01/12/2003 9:21:37 PM PST by petuniasevan
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2003 January 13
The Dumbbell Nebula in Hydrogen and Oxygen
Credit & Copyright: George Jacoby (NOAO) et al., WIYN, AURA, NOAO, NSF
Explanation: The first hint of what will become of our Sun was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At that time, Charles Messier was compiling a list of "annoying" diffuse objects not to be confused with "interesting" comets. The 27th object on Messier's list, now known as M27 or the Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula, the type of nebula our Sun will produce when nuclear fusion stops in its core. M27 is one of the brightest planetary nebulae on the sky, and can be seen in the constellation Vulpecula with binoculars. It takes light about 1000 years to reach us from M27, shown above, digitally sharpened, in three isolated colors emitted by hydrogen and oxygen. Understanding the physics and significance of M27 was well beyond 18th century science. Even today, many things remain mysterious about bipolar planetary nebula like M27, including the physical mechanism that expels a low-mass star's gaseous outer-envelope, leaving an X-ray hot white dwarf.
TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; dumbbell; dust; dwarf; gas; image; nebula; photography; planetary; space; star; white; whitedwarf
This color image was obtained by combining three separate pictures, each one taken through a narrow filter centered at the emission wavelengths of Hydrogen (H alpha, red, 656 nm), doubly ionized Oxygen (OIII, green, 501 nm), and neutral Oxygen (OI, blue, 630 nm).
Compare this image to others:
This synthetic color picture of M27 was produced during testing of
one of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescopes.
Another narrow-filter composite image from the WIYN 'scope:
To: MozartLover; Joan912; NovemberCharlie; snowfox; Dawgsquat; viligantcitizen; theDentist; ...
2
posted on
01/12/2003 9:23:29 PM PST
by
petuniasevan
(This site is still free to use. But do the right thing. Help support FR!)
To: petuniasevan
Beautiful petuniasevan, thank you for the ping.
3
posted on
01/12/2003 10:03:50 PM PST
by
trussell
To: petuniasevan
AWESOME!!! I prefer mind-boggling pics like these over senseless photos of white dots on a black canvas.
How 'bout this baby?!
The Titan 2 rocket launches with Coriolis.
Photo: Lockheed Martin/Tom Rogers
4
posted on
01/12/2003 11:39:14 PM PST
by
panther33
(Whose Tag Line Is It Anyway?)
To: petuniasevan
Wow!
5
posted on
01/13/2003 2:10:30 AM PST
by
sistergoldenhair
(Don't be a sheep. People hate sheep. They eat sheep.)
To: petuniasevan
Thanks for the ping (good morning)
6
posted on
01/13/2003 2:50:32 AM PST
by
firewalk
To: petuniasevan
Love those nebulae! Thanks!
7
posted on
01/13/2003 3:18:11 AM PST
by
GodBlessRonaldReagan
(where is Scotty Moore when we need him most?)
To: petuniasevan
Fantastic awesome beauty!
To: petuniasevan
Great catch as always -- that one's a keeper!
(I'm reminded of the "definition" of an M-object given to an astro novice awhile ago: "It's sorta like a comet, only messier" ;^)
9
posted on
01/13/2003 8:00:17 AM PST
by
mikrofon
("...to the Moon, Alice!")
To: petuniasevan
Great way to start the work week. Thank you.
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