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M33 X-7: Heaviest Stellar Bl
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| Name |
M33 X-7: Heaviest Stellar Black Hole Discovered in Nearby Galaxy |
| Category |
Black Holes, Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies |
| Release Date |
October 17, 2007 |
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M33: Spiral Galaxy in Triang
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| Title |
M33: Spiral Galaxy in Triangulum |
| Explanation |
The small, northern constellation Triangulum [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/tri/index.html ] harbors this magnificent face-on spiral galaxy, M33. Its popular names include the Pinwheel Galaxy or just the Triangulum Galaxy [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m033.html ]. M33 is over 50,000 light-years in diameter, third largest in the Local Group [ http://atlasoftheuniverse.com/localgr.html ] of galaxies after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and our own Milky Way. About 3 million light-years from the Milky Way, M33 is itself thought to be a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021021.html ] and astronomers [ http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph?papernum=0506609 ] in these two galaxies would likely have spectacular views of each other's grand spiral star systems. As for the view from planet Earth, this detailed, wide field image [ http://www.tvdavisastropics.com/astroimages-1_00001f.htm ] nicely shows off M33's blue star clusters and pinkish star [ http://www.astropix.com/HTML/SHOW_DIG/031.HTM ] forming regions which trace the galaxy's loosely wound spiral arms. In fact, the cavernous NGC 604 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021102.html ] is the brightest star forming region, seen here at about the 1 o'clock position from the galaxy center. Like M31, M33's population of well-measured variable stars have helped make this nearby spiral a cosmic yardstick [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~kstanek/DIRECT/ ] for establishing [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/ bib_query?1926ApJ....63..236H ] the distance scale [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/ debate96.html ] of the Universe. |
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Just Passing Through
| Title |
Just Passing Through |
| Explanation |
M33 is [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060914.html ] a big, beautiful spiral galaxy a mere 3 million light-years away, understandably a popular target for enthusiastic astro-imagers. Just as understandably, interfering satellite [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030714.html ] trails [ http://faulkes-telescope.com/news/539 ] and airplane streaks that are becoming more common in planet Earth's busy night sky are processed [ http://www.flickr.com/photos/hisglassworks/sets/ 537892/ ] out of their finished images. But Robert Stephan left these streaks in his final picture [ http://www.flickr.com/photos/hisglassworks/sets/485278/ ] of M33, realizing that he had also recorded something relatively rare. His otherwise cosmic skyscape shows the tail of an aircraft passing overhead through his telescope's field of view. A navigational [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Navigation_light#_note-1 ] strobe light [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strobe_light ] on the plane flashed across the tail at exactly the right moment. The brief illumination produced the incongruous, though remarkably sharp image. |
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Centaurus A: The Galaxy Deep
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| Title |
Centaurus A: The Galaxy Deep Inside |
| Explanation |
Deep inside Centaurus A [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970330.html ], the closest active galaxy [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/introduction/active_galaxies.html ] to Earth, lies ... another galaxy! Cen A is [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/1998/14/astrofile.html ] a giant elliptical galaxy a mere 10 million light-years distant with a central jumble [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980522.html ] of stars, dust, and gas that probably hides a massive black hole [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/1998/14/pr.html ]. This composite combines an optical picture of Cen A with dark lines tracing lobes of radio emission and an infrared [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980806.html ] image from the ISO satellite [ http://www.iso.vilspa.esa.es/outreach/bck_grnd/iso_fact.htm ] (in red). The ISO data maps out [ http://www.iso.vilspa.esa.es/galleries/nor/cen_a.html ] the dust in what appears to be a barred spiral galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001004.html ] about the size of the prominent nearby spiral M33 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980721.html ]. The discoverers believe that the giant elliptical's gravity helps this barred spiral galaxy maintain its shape. In turn, material funneled along the spiral's bar fuels the central black hole which powers the elliptical's radio lobes. This apparently intimate association between two distinct and dissimilar galaxies suggests a truly cosmic symbiotic relationship [ http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/astro-ph/9810419 ]. |
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A Spiral Galaxy Gallery
| Title |
A Spiral Galaxy Gallery |
| Explanation |
A progression of beautiful spiral galaxies is illustrated above with three photographs from NASA's Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope [ http://fondue.gsfc.nasa.gov/UIT/Astro1/Astro1_pictures.html ] (UIT). Flying above the Earth's obscuring layer of atmosphere on the Space Shuttle Columbia [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950806.html ] during the Astro-1 mission in 1990 [ http://fondue.gsfc.nasa.gov/UIT/UIT_HomePage.html#Astro1 ], UIT's cameras were able to image these distant spirals in the ultraviolet light produced by hot, young stars. These bright stars, newly condensed from gas and dust clouds, give away the location of the spiral arms they are born in. Because they are massive (many times the mass of the Sun), they are shortlived [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951027.html ]. Dying and fading before they move too far from their birth place they make excellent tracers of spiral structure. From left to right the galaxies are known as M33, M74, and M81 and have progressively more tightly wound spiral arms. Astronomers would classify these [ http://sousun1.phys.soton.ac.uk/PH308/galaxies/classification.html ] as Scd, Sc, and Sb type spirals using a galaxy classification scheme [ http://www-hpcc.astro.washington.edu/k12/hubble/hubble.html ] first worked out by Edwin Hubble [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/ d_1996/sandage_hubble.html ]. |
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M33: Spiral Galaxy in Triang
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| Title |
M33: Spiral Galaxy in Triangulum |
| Explanation |
The small constellation Triangulum [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/tri/index.html ] in the northern sky harbors this magnificent face-on spiral galaxy, M33. Its popular names include the Pinwheel Galaxy or just the Triangulum Galaxy [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m033.html ]. M33's diameter spans over 50,000 light-years, making it third largest in the Local Group [ http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/localgr.html ] of galaxies after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and our own Milky Way. About 3 million light-years from the Milky Way, M33 lies very close to the Andromeda Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021021.html ] and observers [ http://www.astr.ua.edu/gifimages/m33.html ] in these two galaxies would likely have spectacular views of each other's grand spiral star systems. As for the view from planet Earth, this sharp 27 frame mosaic [ http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/M33ColorPage.html ] of M33 nicely shows off blue star clusters and pinkish star forming regions which trace the galaxy's loosely wound spiral arms. In fact, the cavernous NGC 604 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021102.html ] is the brightest star forming region seen here, visible along an arm arcing above and to the right of the galaxy center. Like M31, M33's population of well-measured variable stars have helped make this nearby spiral a cosmic yardstick [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~kstanek/DIRECT/ ] for establishing [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/ bib_query?1926ApJ....63..236H ] the distance scale [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/ debate96.html ] of the Universe. |
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Centaurus A: The Galaxy Deep
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| Title |
Centaurus A: The Galaxy Deep Inside |
| Explanation |
Deep inside Centaurus A [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970330.html ], the closest active galaxy [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/introduction/active_galaxies.html ] to Earth, lies ... another galaxy! Cen A is [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/1998/14/astrofile.html ] a giant elliptical galaxy a mere 10 million light-years distant with a central jumble [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980522.html ] of stars, dust, and gas that probably hides a massive black hole [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/1998/14/pr.html ]. This composite combines an optical picture of Cen A with dark lines tracing lobes of radio emission and an infrared [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980806.html ] image from the ISO satellite [ http://sapwww.saclay.cea.fr/www/iso/iso.html ] (in red). The ISO data maps out [ http://sapwww.saclay.cea.fr/www/iso/isocam.html ] the dust in what appears to be a barred spiral galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970519.html ] about the size of the prominent nearby spiral M33 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980721.html ]. The discoverers believe that the giant elliptical's gravity helps this barred spiral galaxy maintain its shape. In turn, material funneled along the spiral's bar fuels the central black hole which powers the elliptical's radio lobes. This apparently intimate association between two distinct and dissimilar galaxies suggests a truly cosmic symbiotic relationship [ http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/astro-ph/9810419 ]. |
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Where is Upsilon Andromedae?
| Title |
Where is Upsilon Andromedae? |
| Explanation |
Astronomers recently announced [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/afoe/upsAnd.html ] the detection of three large planets orbiting [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990416.html ] the star Upsilon Andromedae - the first planetary system known to orbit a normal star [ http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/pspm/arecibo/planets/planets.html ] other than our Sun. These planets were [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/afoe/espd.html ] not directly photographed but found through a Doppler technique developed to use large telescopes to search nearby stars [ http://www.sciam.com/explorations/052796explorations.html ] for wobbling planetary signatures. However, Upsilon And itself is visible to the unaided eye shining in Earth's sky in the northern constellation Andromeda [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/afoe/And.html ] at about 4th magnitude [ http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/universe/MAG.HTML ]. This deep photographic image [ http://aibn47.astro.uni-bonn.de/~gallery/constellations/ andromeda/constell.html ] shows Upsilon And along with fainter stars and "deep sky" objects including the famous Andromeda spiral galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971101.html ] or M31 (right), the Triangulum galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980721.html ] or M33 (below), and the star cluster NGC 752 [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n0752.html ] (left). About 44 light-years distant, Upsilon And is a star only a little more massive and just slightly hotter than the Sun. |
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WISE Spies a Galactic Neighb
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nasa, wisemultimediagallery
This image captured by NASA'
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508466main_pia13452
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2011-01-04 |
| creator |
NASA |
| identifier |
508466main_pia13452 |
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