Ever wonder what public transport in space will be like?
Train pict credit: Me
Tarantua Nebula from the Astronomy Picture of the Day website
Tarantula Image Credit: WFI, MPG/ESO 2.2-m Telescope, La Silla, ESO
The largest, most violent star forming region known in the whole Local Group of galaxies lies in our neighboring galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Were the Tarantula Nebula at the distance of the Orion Nebula — a local star forming region — it would take up fully half the sky. Also called 30 Doradus, the red and pink gas indicates a massive emission nebula, although supernova remnants and dark nebula also exist there. The bright knot of stars left of center is called R136 and contains many of the most massive, hottest, and brightest stars known. The above image taken with the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Wide Field Imager is one of the most detailed ever of this vast star forming region. ESO has made it possible to fly around and into this detailed image by clicking here.
Out of respect for my better half, I have added another photo to replace the spider that was occupying numero uno spot on this site (see her comments under the spider below).
Well now … I have a new appreciation for all the daddy long legs living behind my toilet! Interesting buggers, eh?
Andromeda Galaxy courtesy of apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0611/andromeda_gendler_big.jpg
Paper Airplane: Me
Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda. Together these two galaxies dominate the Local Group of galaxies. The diffuse light from Andromeda is caused by the hundreds of billions of stars that compose it. The several distinct stars that surround Andromeda’s image are actually stars in our Galaxy that are well in front of the background object. Andromeda is frequently referred to as M31 since it is the 31st object on Messier’s list of diffuse sky objects. M31 is so distant it takes about two million years for light to reach us from there. Although visible without aid, the above image of M31 is a digital mosaic of 20 frames taken with a small telescope. Much about M31 remains unknown, including how the center acquired two nuclei.
