|
|
Anomalous Arms
| Title |
Anomalous Arms |
| Description |
In this composite image of spiral galaxy M106 (NGC 4258), optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey is shown as yellow, radio data from the Very Large Array appears as purple, X-ray data from Chandra is coded blue, and infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope appears red. Two anomalous arms, which aren't visible at optical wavelengths, appear as purple and blue emission. |
|
VLA Radio Image of the Mouse
…
| Name |
VLA Radio Image of the Mouse, Full Field |
|
VLA Radio Image of DB01-42
| Name |
VLA Radio Image of DB01-42 |
|
VLA Radio Image of DB00-6
| Name |
VLA Radio Image of DB00-6 |
|
Chandra Image of Perseus Clu
…
| Name |
Chandra Image of Perseus Cluster with VLA Radio Inset |
|
VLA Radio Image of GB1508+57
…
| Name |
VLA Radio Image of GB1508+5714 |
|
Composite Image of 3C321
| Name |
Composite Image of 3C321 |
|
More Images of The Arches Cl
…
| Name |
More Images of The Arches Cluster |
|
VLA Radio Image of NGC 4258
| Name |
VLA Radio Image of NGC 4258 |
|
VLA Radio Image of Quintuple
…
| Name |
VLA Radio Image of Quintuplet Cluster |
|
VLA Radio Image of MS 0735.6
…
| Name |
VLA Radio Image of MS 0735.6+7421 |
|
VLA Radio Image of M87
| Name |
VLA Radio Image of M87 |
|
VLA Radio Image of Galactic
…
| Name |
VLA Radio Image of Galactic Center |
|
Hubble Spies Supersonic "Com
…
| Title |
Hubble Spies Supersonic "Comet-Clouds" in Heart of Galaxy |
|
Very Long Baseline Array Rev
…
| Title |
Very Long Baseline Array Reveals Formation Region of Giant Cosmic Jet Near a Black Hole |
|
Giant Radio Jet Coming from
…
| Title |
Giant Radio Jet Coming from Wrong Kind of Galaxy |
| General Information |
What is an American Astronomical Society Meeting release? A major news announcement issued at an American Astronomical Society meeting, the premier astronomy conference. Back to top [ #top ] |
|
Host Galaxy Cluster to Large
…
| Title |
Host Galaxy Cluster to Largest Known Radio Eruption |
| General Information |
What is a News Nugget? News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy. This is a new composite image of galaxy cluster MS0735.6+7421, located about 2.6 billion light-years away in the constellation Camelopardalis. The three views of the region were taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in Feb. 2006, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in Nov. 2003, and NRAO's Very Large Array in Oct. 2004. The Hubble image shows dozens of galaxies bound together by gravity. In Jan. 2005, astronomers reported that a supermassive black hole, lurking in the central bright galaxy, generated the most powerful outburst seen in the universe. The VLA radio image shows jets of high energy particles (in red) streaming from the black hole. These jets pushed the X-ray emitting hot gas (shown in blue in the Chandra image) aside to create two giant cavities in the gas. The cavities are evidence for the massive eruption. The X-ray and radio images show the enormous appetite of large black holes and the profound impact they have on their surroundings. |
|
Host Galaxy Cluster to Large
…
| Title |
Host Galaxy Cluster to Largest Known Radio Eruption |
| General Information |
What is a News Nugget? News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy. This is a new composite image of galaxy cluster MS0735.6+7421, located about 2.6 billion light-years away in the constellation Camelopardalis. The three views of the region were taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in Feb. 2006, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in Nov. 2003, and NRAO's Very Large Array in Oct. 2004. The Hubble image shows dozens of galaxies bound together by gravity. In Jan. 2005, astronomers reported that a supermassive black hole, lurking in the central bright galaxy, generated the most powerful outburst seen in the universe. The VLA radio image shows jets of high energy particles (in red) streaming from the black hole. These jets pushed the X-ray emitting hot gas (shown in blue in the Chandra image) aside to create two giant cavities in the gas. The cavities are evidence for the massive eruption. The X-ray and radio images show the enormous appetite of large black holes and the profound impact they have on their surroundings. |
|
Host Galaxy Cluster to Large
…
| Title |
Host Galaxy Cluster to Largest Known Radio Eruption |
| General Information |
What is a News Nugget? News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy. This is a new composite image of galaxy cluster MS0735.6+7421, located about 2.6 billion light-years away in the constellation Camelopardalis. The three views of the region were taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in Feb. 2006, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in Nov. 2003, and NRAO's Very Large Array in Oct. 2004. The Hubble image shows dozens of galaxies bound together by gravity. In Jan. 2005, astronomers reported that a supermassive black hole, lurking in the central bright galaxy, generated the most powerful outburst seen in the universe. The VLA radio image shows jets of high energy particles (in red) streaming from the black hole. These jets pushed the X-ray emitting hot gas (shown in blue in the Chandra image) aside to create two giant cavities in the gas. The cavities are evidence for the massive eruption. The X-ray and radio images show the enormous appetite of large black holes and the profound impact they have on their surroundings. |
|
Host Galaxy Cluster to Large
…
| Title |
Host Galaxy Cluster to Largest Known Radio Eruption |
| General Information |
What is a News Nugget? News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy. This is a new composite image of galaxy cluster MS0735.6+7421, located about 2.6 billion light-years away in the constellation Camelopardalis. The three views of the region were taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in Feb. 2006, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in Nov. 2003, and NRAO's Very Large Array in Oct. 2004. The Hubble image shows dozens of galaxies bound together by gravity. In Jan. 2005, astronomers reported that a supermassive black hole, lurking in the central bright galaxy, generated the most powerful outburst seen in the universe. The VLA radio image shows jets of high energy particles (in red) streaming from the black hole. These jets pushed the X-ray emitting hot gas (shown in blue in the Chandra image) aside to create two giant cavities in the gas. The cavities are evidence for the massive eruption. The X-ray and radio images show the enormous appetite of large black holes and the profound impact they have on their surroundings. |
|
The Very Large Array of Radi
…
| Title |
The Very Large Array of Radio Telescopes |
| Explanation |
The most photogenic array of radio telescopes [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/light/radio.html ] in the world has also been one of the most productive. Each of the 27 radio telescopes [ http://www.r-clarke.org.uk/astrolinks_radio.htm ] in the Very Large Array [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Large_Array ] (VLA) is the size of a house [ http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/mod02/master02.html ] and can be moved on train tracks. The above pictured [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/intro/vlapix/vlaviews.index.html ] VLA [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990620.html ], inaugurated in 1980 is situated in New Mexico [ http://www.state.nm.us/ ], USA [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html ]. The VLA [ http://www.vla.nrao.edu/ ] has been used to discover water on planet Mercury [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2000/vla20/background/mercuryice/ ], radio-bright coronae around ordinary stars [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2000/vla20/background/radiostars/ ], micro-quasars in our Galaxy [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2000/vla20/background/superlum/ ], gravitationally-induced Einstein rings around distant galaxies [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2000/vla20/background/ering/ ], and radio counterparts to cosmologically distant gamma-ray bursts [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/1998/grb/ ]. The vast size of the VLA [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?VLA ] has allowed astronomers to study the details of super-fast cosmic jets [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2000/vla20/background/jets/ ], and even map the center [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2000/vla20/background/galcenter/ ] of our Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020521.html ]. An upgrade of the VLA [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/evla/ ] is being planned. |
|
The Very Large Array Turns T
…
| Title |
The Very Large Array Turns Twenty |
| Explanation |
The most photogenic array of radio telescopes [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/light/radio.html ] in the world has also been one of the most productive. Each of the 27 radio telescopes [ http://www.r-clarke.org.uk/astrolinks_radio.htm ] in the Very Large Array [ http://info.aoc.nrao.edu/doc/vla/html/VLAintro.shtml ] (VLA) is the size of a house [ http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/mod02/master02.html ] and can be moved on train tracks. The VLA [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990620.html ], celebrating its twentieth year [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/vla20.html ] of operation, is pictured above [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/intro/vlapix/vlaviews.index.html ] in a compact formation in front of Tres Montosas [ http://angeleschapter.org/sps/summits/nm/socorro.htm ], New Mexico [ http://www.state.nm.us/ ], USA [ http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/us.html ]. The VLA [ http://info.aoc.nrao.edu/vla/html/VLAhome.shtml ] has been used to discover water on planet Mercury [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/mercury.ice.html ], radio-bright coronae around ordinary stars [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/radiostars.html ], micro-quasars in our Galaxy [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/superlum.html ], gravitationally-induced Einstein rings around distant galaxies [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/einstein.ring.html ], and radio counterparts to cosmologically distant gamma-ray bursts [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/grb.html ]. The vast size of the VLA [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?VLA ] has allowed astronomers to study the details of super-fast cosmic jets [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/jets.html ], and even map the center of our Galaxy [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/galcenter.html ]. An upgrade of the VLA [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/evla.decadereview.html ] is being planned [ http://info.aoc.nrao.edu/vla/html/Upgrade/Upgrade_home.shtml ]. |
|
A Big Dish at the VLA Radio
…
| Title |
A Big Dish at the VLA Radio Observatory |
| Explanation |
They are so large, they are almost unreal. The radio dishes of the Very Large Array [ http://www.vla.nrao.edu/ ] (VLA) of radio telescopes [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/light/radio.html ] might appear to some as a strange combination of a dinosaur skeleton [ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/games/skeleton_jigsaw/skeletal_jigsaws/index.shtml ] and common satellite-TV receiving dish [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_dish ]. Together, the 27 dishes of the VLA [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Large_Array ] combine high sensitivity with high resolution, enabling a series of important astronomical discoveries, including water ice on planet Mercury [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2000/vla20/background/mercuryice/ ], micro-quasars in our Galaxy [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2000/vla20/background/superlum/ ], gravitationally-induced Einstein rings around distant galaxies [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2000/vla20/background/ering/ ], and radio counterparts to cosmologically distant gamma-ray bursts [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/1998/grb/ ]. Pictured above, a dish from the VLA was photographed last week near Socorro [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socorro%2C_New_Mexico ], New Mexico [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico ], USA [ https://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html ]. |
|
3C175: Quasar Cannon
| Title |
3C175: Quasar Cannon |
| Explanation |
3C175 is not only a quasar, it is a galaxy-fueled particle cannon. Visible as the central dot is quasar [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/96/35/quasar.html ] 3C175, the active center of a galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961125.html ] so distant [ http://isaac.exploratorium.edu/~pauld/activities/astronomy/cityuniversesize.html ] that the light we see from it was emitted when the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001127.html ] was just forming [ http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/niel/scales/geohist1.ascii ]. The above image [ http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~abridle/3c175.htm ] was recorded in radio waves [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html ] by an array of house-sized telescopes called the Very Large Array [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000530.html ] (VLA). Shooting out from 3C175 is a thin jet [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000706.html ] of protons [ http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/particles/proton.html ] and electrons [ http://www.aip.org/history/electron/ ] traveling near the speed of light [ http://www.what-is-the-speed-of-light.com/ ] that is over one million light-years [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html ] long. The jet [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000619.html ] acts like a particle cannon [ http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_wendwar.html ] and bores through gas cloud in its path. How this jet [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010816.html ] forms and why it is so narrow remain topics of current [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?1994AJ....108..766B ] research [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1999ApJ...511...84H ]. |
|
The Very Large Array of Radi
…
| Title |
The Very Large Array of Radio Telescopes |
| Explanation |
The most photogenic array of radio telescopes [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/light/radio.html ] in the world has also been one of the most productive. Each of the 27 radio telescopes [ http://www.r-clarke.org.uk/astrolinks_radio.htm ] in the Very Large Array [ http://info.aoc.nrao.edu/doc/vla/html/VLAintro.shtml ] (VLA) is the size of a house [ http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/mod02/master02.html ] and can be moved on train tracks. The above pictured [ http://www.nrao.edu/imagegallery/vla2/picture-006.html ] VLA [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990620.html ], celebrating its twenty-second year [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/vla20.html ] of operation, is situated in New Mexico [ http://www.state.nm.us/ ], USA [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html ]. The VLA [ http://info.aoc.nrao.edu/vla/html/VLAhome.shtml ] has been used to discover water on planet Mercury [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/mercury.ice.html ], radio-bright coronae around ordinary stars [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/radiostars.html ], micro-quasars in our Galaxy [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/superlum.html ], gravitationally-induced Einstein rings around distant galaxies [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/einstein.ring.html ], and radio counterparts to cosmologically distant gamma-ray bursts [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/grb.html ]. The vast size of the VLA [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?VLA ] has allowed astronomers to study the details of super-fast cosmic jets [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/jets.html ], and even map the center [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/vla20/galcenter.html ] of our Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020521.html ]. An upgrade of the VLA [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/pr/evla.decadereview.html ] is being planned [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/evla/ ]. |
|
A Very Large Array of Radio
…
| Title |
A Very Large Array of Radio Telescopes |
| Explanation |
Pictured above is one of the world's premiere radio astronomical observatories: The Very Large Array [ http://info.aoc.nrao.edu/doc/vla/html/VLAintro.shtml ] (VLA). Each antenna dish is as big as a house [ http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Welcome.html ] (25 meters across) and mounted on railroad tracks [ http://hamlet.phyast.pitt.edu/exhibit/neighborhoods/south/south_n226.html ]. The VLA consists of 27 dishes - together capable of spanning the size of a city (35 kilometers). The VLA [ http://www.nrao.edu/vla/html/VLAintro.shtml ] is the most sensitive radio telescope [ http://www.nro.nao.ac.jp/~kotaro/RTs/rts.html ] ever, and, through interferometry [ http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~eww/physics/node1037.html#SECTION000939000000000000000 ], can resolve a golf ball-sized radio source 150 kilometers away (0.04 arcsec). The VLA [ http://info.aoc.nrao.edu/doc/vla/obstatus/vlas/vlas.html ] is continually making new discoveries, including determining the composition of galaxies [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/doc/pr/press-1-11-95.html ], passing comets [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/doc/pr/press-3-14-96.html ], quasars [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-article_query?bibcode=1993ApJ%2E%2E%2E402%2E%2E514K&page=1&plate_select=NO&type=GIF ], HII regions [ http://www.aas.org/ApJ/v449n2/5225/sc0.html ], and clusters of galaxies [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-article_query?bibcode=1995AJ%2E%2E%2E%2E109%2E%2E853L&page=1&plate_select=NO&type=GIF ]. The VLA is also used to receive the weak radio signals broadcast from interplanetary spacecraft [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/doc/pr/press-11-16-95.html ]. The VLA is located in New Mexico [ http://www.viva.com/nm/nmhome.html ], USA. A significant upgrade [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/doc/pr/press-6-10-96.html ] of VLA's capabilities is planned. |
|
Twin Proto-Planetary Disks
| Title |
Twin Proto-Planetary Disks |
| Explanation |
Sun-like stars [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/sun_parts.html ] are forming - and probably planets too [ http://wwwusr.obspm.fr/departement/darc/planets/encycl.html ] - hidden inside [ http://donald.phast.umass.edu/theses/dianne/chap1/node5.html ] Lynds 1551, an interstellar cloud of molecular gas and dust in the constellation [ http://www.mtwilson.edu/Education/ConQuiz/ ] Taurus. Using new receivers, coordinated radio telescopes at the Very Large Array [ http://www.nrao.edu/vla/html/VLAhome.shtml ] near Socorro, New Mexico, USA, can now sharply image the dusty proto-planetary disks surrounding these young stars at radio wavelengths. Just announced, this exciting example [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/protodisks.html ] shows a false-color radio [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980917.html ] picture of twin disks in a double star system [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970219.html ]! A yellow bar indicates the scale in astronomical units (AUs) where one AU is the average distance between the Earth and Sun. The stars (unseen near the center of each disk) are about 45 AUs apart, comparable to the radius of the orbit of Pluto [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/plutofact.html ]. Similar proto-planetary disks [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980423.html ] have been seen around single stars, but these twin disks are much smaller, each limited in size by the gravity of the nearby companion star [ http://astrosun.tn.cornell.edu/courses/astro201/kepler_binary.htm ]. In fact, if large planets form orbiting near the edges of these disks they may be ejected from the binary system [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980529.html ]. |
|
The Large and Small of M87
| Title |
The Large and Small of M87 |
| Explanation |
The small core of elliptical galaxy M87 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950913.html ] appears to be energizing its whole galactic neighborhood. Recent images [ http://www.nrao.edu/pr/m87big.html ] from the Very Large Array [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970727.html ] (VLA) of radio telescopes [ http://www.nro.nao.ac.jp/~kotaro/RTs/rts.html ] indicate that huge bubbles of hot gas not only exist but are still being created. These bubbles measure 200,000 light-years across and surround the entire galaxy [ http://www.nrao.edu/~fowen/M87.html ]. The source creating and feeding the bubbles has been traced to jets [ http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/merlin/about/layman/jet.html ] pointing back to M87's center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970405.html ], where a supermassive black hole [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970114.html ] is thought to live. The smallest scale on the above radio-map [ http://www.nrao.edu/~fowen/M87_halo.html ] is 0.2 light-years and imaged by many radio telescopes working together (VLBI [ http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/merlin/about/layman/vlbi.html ]). The labeled numbers refer to the wavelength of the radio waves observed. The exact composition of these jets is not known [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1993MNRAS.264..228C&db_key=AST&high=34f6e1de7f07509 ], but thought to contain various subatomic particles [ http://pdg.lbl.gov/cpep/adventure_home.html ]. |
|
A Very Large Array of Radio
…
| Title |
A Very Large Array of Radio Telescopes |
| Explanation |
Pictured above is one of the world's premiere radio astronomical observatories: The Very Large Array [ http://info.aoc.nrao.edu/doc/vla/html/VLAintro.shtml ] (VLA). Each antenna dish is as big as a house [ http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Welcome.html ] (25 meters across) and mounted on railroad tracks. The VLA consists of 27 dishes - together capable of spanning the size of a city (35 kilometers). The VLA [ http://www.nrao.edu/vla/html/VLAintro.shtml ] is the most sensitive radio telescope [ http://www.nro.nao.ac.jp/~kotaro/RTs/rts.html ] ever, and, through interferometry [ http://www.sciam.com/0297issue/0297massonnet.html ], can resolve a golf ball-sized radio source 150 kilometers away (0.04 arcsec). The VLA [ http://info.aoc.nrao.edu/doc/vla/obstatus/vlas/vlas.html ] is continually making new discoveries, including determining the composition of galaxies [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/doc/pr/press-1-11-95.html ], passing comets [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1998AJ....116..987D ], quasars [ http://adsbit.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1993ApJ...402..514K ], HII regions [ http://www.astro.uni-jena.de/Users/mfeldt/uchr/uchr.html ], and clusters of galaxies [ http://adsbit.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1995AJ....109..853L ]. The VLA is also used to receive the weak radio signals broadcast from interplanetary spacecraft [ http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/doc/pr/press-11-16-95.html ]. The VLA is located in New Mexico [ http://www.state.nm.us/ ], USA. A significant upgrade [ http://www.nrao.edu/vla/html/Upgrade/WhatIsIt.shtml ] of VLA's capabilities is planned. |
|
Sundogs over the VLA
| Title |
Sundogs over the VLA |
| Explanation |
What if you woke up one morning and saw more than one Sun in the sky? Most probably, you would be seeing sundogs [ http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/opt/ice/sd.rxml ], extra-images of the Sun [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/sol.html ] created by falling ice-crystals [ http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/lc/halo/crystals.htm ] in the Earth's atmosphere [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/earth/atmosphere.html ]. As water freezes in the atmosphere, small, flat, six-sided, ice crystals [ http://kristall.uni-mki.gwdg.de/homep1.htm ] might be formed. As these crystals flutter to the ground, much time is spent with their faces flat, parallel to the ground. An observer may pass through the same plane as many of the falling ice crystals [ http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF11/1180.html ] near sunrise or sunset. During this alignment, each crystal can act like a miniature lens, refracting [ http://wigner.byu.edu/LightRefract/LightRefract.html ] sunlight into our view and creating parhelia [ http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/lc/halo/plates.htm ], the technical term for sundogs. Sundogs [ http://www.members.tripod.com/~regenbogen/ee01ee02/ee02_11.htm ] were photographed here in a cloudy sky above the Very Large Array [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990620.html ] of radio telescopes [ http://casswww.ucsd.edu/physics/ph7/Radio_Tel.html ]. The real Sun is near the center above the train tracks. A bright sundog [ http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF14/1422.html ] is visible on the far right, and a dim one on the far left. Ice-crystals can create other strange illusions of the Sun and Moon [ http://www.members.tripod.com/~regenbogen/indexe.htm ] including halos [ http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/opt/ice/halo/22.rxml ] and pillars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990706.html ] |
|
Gorilla Black Hole in the Mi
…
PIA08001
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
…
| Title |
Gorilla Black Hole in the Mist |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This false-color image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a distant galaxy (yellow) that houses a quasar, a super-massive black hole circled by a ring, or torus, of gas and dust. Spitzer's infrared eyes cut through the dust to find this hidden object, which appears to be a member of the long-sought population of missing quasars. The green and blue splotches are galaxies that do not hold quasars. Astronomers had predicted that most quasars are blocked from our view by their tori, or by surrounding dust-drenched galaxies, making them difficult to find. Because infrared light can travel through gas and dust, Spitzer was able to detect enough of these objects to show that there is most likely a large population of obscured quasars. In addition to the quasar-bearing galaxy shown here, Spitzer discovered 20 others in a small patch of sky. Astronomers identified the quasars with the help of radio data from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array radio telescope in New Mexico. While normal galaxies do not produce strong radio waves, many galaxies with quasars appear bright when viewed with radio telescopes. In this image, infrared data from Spitzer is colored both blue (3.6 microns) and green (24 microns), and radio data from the Very Large Array telescope is colored red. The quasar-bearing galaxy stands out in yellow because it emits both infrared and radio light. Of the 21 quasars uncovered by Spitzer, astronomers believe that 10 are hidden by their dusty tori, while the rest are altogether buried in dusty galaxies. The quasar inside the galaxy pictured here is of the type that is obscured by its torus. |
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