|
|
Huygens Landing Site
| Description |
Huygens landing site |
| Full Description |
This image provides a comparison between the Huygens landing site on Titan as viewed by the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) and the NACO/SDI instrument mounted on the 8-meter Yepun telescope of the VLT (Very Large Telescope) station, in Chile. From the two images it is possible to see a high consistency between the two measurements. The Cassini image - taken in the near-infrared (938 nanometers)- shows the Huygens landing site map wrapped around Titan, rotated to the same position as the January 2005 NACO/SDI observations. The colored lines outline the regions that were imaged by Cassini at different resolutions. The lower-resolution imaging sequences are outlined in blue. Other areas have been specifically targeted to build moderate and high-resolution mosaics of surface features. These include the site where the Huygens probe has touched down on Jan. 14, 2005 (marked with the yellow X), and located at a latitude of 10.3° south and a longitude of 192.32° west (or 167.7° east). The landing site is located on the boundary between the bright region called Adiri and the dark one called Shangri-la. The red color on the NACO/SDI image corresponds to an atmospheric filter at 1.625 micron, while the blue color corresponds to a filter for the surface at 1.600 and 1.575 micron. *Credits:* NASA/JPL/Cassini-ISS/Space Science Institute and ESO/NACO-SDI/VLT |
| Date |
March 5, 2007 |
|
Chandra & VLT Image of M83
| Name |
Chandra & VLT Image of M83 |
|
Hubble Sees Star Cluster "In
…
| Title |
Hubble Sees Star Cluster "Infant Mortality |
| 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. Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found that young stellar nurseries, called open star clusters, have very short lives. This is gleaned from new observations by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys that were used to do a "Where's Waldo" search for blue stars tossed out of their open cluster "nest" in the nearby galaxy known as NGC 1313. Read more: * The Full Story [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/05/full/ ] |
|
Hubble Sees Star Cluster "In
…
| Title |
Hubble Sees Star Cluster "Infant Mortality |
| 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. Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found that young stellar nurseries, called open star clusters, have very short lives. This is gleaned from new observations by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys that were used to do a "Where's Waldo" search for blue stars tossed out of their open cluster "nest" in the nearby galaxy known as NGC 1313. Read more: * The Full Story [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/05/full/ ] |
|
Hubble Sees 'Comet Galaxy' B
…
| Title |
Hubble Sees 'Comet Galaxy' Being Ripped Apart By Galaxy Cluster |
|
Ultra-cool Diminutive Star W
…
| Title |
Ultra-cool Diminutive Star Weighs In |
| General Information |
What is a News Nugget? News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy. The power of the some of the world's biggest telescopes has been brought to bear to directly measure the mass, for the first time, of one of the smallest stars ever seen in the universe. Barely the size of the planet Jupiter, the dwarf star weighs in at just 8.5 percent of the mass of our Sun. Read more: * Release Text [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2004/51/text/ ] |
|
The Carina Nebula: Star Birt
…
| Title |
The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. In celebration of the 17th anniversary of the launch and deployment of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is releasing one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble's cameras. READ: Junior version of this article Amazing Space Learn about this story in the Star Witness, a science newspaper available on our sister site, Amazing Space. [ http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/news/archive/2007/02/ ] It is a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth —, and death —, is taking place. This image is a mosaic of the Carina Nebula assembled from 48 frames taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Hubble images were taken in the light of neutral hydrogen during March and July 2005. Color information was added with data taken in December 2001 and March 2003 at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Red corresponds to sulfur, green to hydrogen, and blue to oxygen emission. |
|
Hubble Yields Direct Proof o
…
| Title |
Hubble Yields Direct Proof of Stellar Sorting in a Globular Cluster |
|
Crumbling Comet Schwassmann-
…
| Title |
Crumbling Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 Approaches |
| Explanation |
A crumbling comet will soon pass near the Earth. Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/24mar_73p.htm ] is brightening and may even be visible to the unaided eye [ http://webvision.med.utah.edu/anatomy.html ] when the fragmented comet [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040724.html ] zooms past Earth during the middle of next month. Still, the small comet poses no Earth hazard [ http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/Academy/SPACE/SolarSystem/Meteors/ImpactHazard.html ], since it will pass the Earth at about 25 times the distance of the Moon. Exactly how bright Comet Schwassman-Wachmann 3 [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann ] will get is unknown. It is even possible, althought unlikely, that debris from the comet [ http://cometography.com/pcomets/073p.html ] will have spread out enough to cause a notable meteor shower [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031116.html ]. Pictured above [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2006/phot-15-06.html ], Fragment B of Comet Schwassman-Wachmann 3 [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2006/pr-15-06.html ] was photographed two nights ago by a 8.2-meter Very Large Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990309.html ] in Chile [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile ]. Visible [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060426.html http://www.space.com/spacewatch/060414_night_sky.html ] to the lower right of the large B fragment are many mini-comets that have broken off and now orbit the Sun separately. Each mini-comet itself sheds gas and dust and so appears to have its own hazy coma. The comet [ http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_1704_1.asp ] will pass closest to the Sun on June 7. |
|
Sirius, Sun, Moon, and South
…
| Title |
Sirius, Sun, Moon, and Southern Cross |
| Explanation |
From left to right are the enclosures of Yepun ("ye-poon", Sirius [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000611.html ]), Antu ("an-too", Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000621.html ]), Kueyen ("qua-yen", Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991222.html ]), and Melipal ("me-li-pal", Southern Cross [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000618.html ]), pictured here as night falls at Paranal Observatory [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2000/ phot-15B-00.html ] in northern Chile. These are the four 8.2 meter wide telescope units of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2000/ phot-15-00.html ] (VLT). ESO astronomers and engineers plan to combine the light [ http://www.eso.org/projects/vlt/ ] of the individual units, achieving an equivalent aperture [ http://www.seds.org/billa/bigeyes.html ] of 16.4 meters which will, for a while [ http://nastol.astro.lu.se/~torben/50m/50m.html ], constitue the biggest [ http://www.sciam.com/specialissues/1299engineering/ 1299musserbox2.html ] telescope on planet Earth [ http://www.sciam.com/specialissues/1299engineering/ 1299musser.html ]. Of course, the individual telescopes also function independently. Antu, Kueyen, and Melipal have already achieved first light with Yepun expected to operate in 2001. The telescope names [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/info-events/ut1fl/names.html ] come from the Mapuche [ http://www.uchile.cl/cultura/mapa/ artesamapuche/ingles/index.htm ] language [ http://www-linguistics.stanford.edu/~arnold/mapuche/ mapudungun.html ]. They were unanimously chosen based on the winning "name-the-telescopes" essay by 17-year old Jorssy Albanez Castilla from Chuquicamata near the city of Calama. |
|
Yepun
| Title |
Yepun |
| Explanation |
Pictured above on September 3rd, the enclosure for the 8.2 meter telescope christened Yepun glints dramatically in the light of the setting sun. Later that evening, under dark skies [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2000/ phot-15B-00.html ] at Paranal Observatory, Chile [ http://www.ociw.edu/lco/links/astro_link_en.html ], astronomers and engineers successfully captured Yepun's first light images [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2000/ pr-18-00.html ], making Yepun the fourth and final unit of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) array to reach this milestone. Ultimately, the light from the three other 8.2 meter unit telescopes (Antu, Kueyen, and Melipal [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ]) will be combined with Yepun's to achieve an effective aperture [ http://www.seds.org/billa/bigeyes.html ] of 16.4 meters -- creating the world's largest [ http://www.howstuffworks.com/news-item214.htm ] optical telescope [ http://www.telescope.org/rti/index.html ]. But the next major step will be to combine beams from two of the telescopes creating an interferometer. The upper part of the mostly subterranean interferometer lab is the building in front of the telescope enclosure. The VLT unit telescope names have been taken from the Mapuche [ http://www.uchile.cl/cultura/mapa/artesamapuche/ingles/ index.htm ] language [ http://www-linguistics.stanford.edu/~arnold/mapuche/ mapudungun.html ]. Originally thought to refer to the bright star Sirius, the word Yepun [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/info-events/ut1fl/yepun.html ] is now believed by linguists to mean Venus or evening star [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990903.html ]. |
|
The Milky Way Over Paranal
| Title |
The Milky Way Over Paranal |
| Explanation |
It's not the sky that's falling. More accurately, the Earth is rising. The Earth's rotation [ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5041127474937930014 ] gives a continually changing view to all Earth observers, including those measuring the universe at the Paranal Observatory [ http://www.eso.org/paranal/ ]. The observatory's four, massive 8.2 meter telescope units are situated on top of the 2,600 meter high mountain, Cerro Paranal [ http://www.eso.org/paranal/site/paranal.html ], in the dry Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The individual unit telescopes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050817.html ] can be used separately or in combination. Their names [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ], Antu, Kueyen, Melipal, and Yepun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000927.html ], are taken from the Mapuche [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapuche ] language. Fittingly they translate to Sun, Moon, Evening Star, and Southern Cross [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040708.html ]. Together they are fittingly known as the European Southern Observatory [ http://www.eso.org/about-eso/ ]'s Very Large Telescope [ http://www.eso.org/projects/vlt/ ]. A higher time resolution version of the above movie is available here [ http://www.astrosurf.com/sguisard/SGU-Paranal-Voie-lactee-V4-720x576-mus-ok-en.avi ]. |
|
A Laser Strike at the Galact
…
| Title |
A Laser Strike at the Galactic Center |
| Explanation |
Why are these people shooting a powerful laser into the center of our Galaxy? Fortunately, this is not meant to be the first step in a Galactic war [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5 ]. Rather, astronomers at the Very Large Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ] (VLT) site in Chile [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile ] are trying to measure the distortions of Earth's ever changing atmosphere [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000725.html ]. Constant imaging of high-altitude atoms excited by the laser -- which appear like an artificial star [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050207.html ] -- allow astronomers to instantly measure atmospheric blurring [ http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/optics/lgsao/lgsbasics.html ]. This information is fed back to a VLT telescope mirror which is then slightly deformed [ http://www.eso.org/projects/aot/introduction.html ] to minimize this blurring. In this case, a VLT was observing our Galaxy's center [ http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~tanner/gcintro.html ], and so Earth's atmospheric blurring in that direction was needed. As for inter-galaxy warfare [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_wars ], when viewed from our Galaxy's center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050403.html ], no casualties are expected. In fact, the light from this powerful laser [ http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2007/pr-27-07.html ] would combine with light from our Sun to together appear only as bright [ http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/alien/chapter/ch07.html ] as a faint and distant star. |
|
Breaking Distant Light
| Title |
Breaking Distant Light |
| Explanation |
In the distant universe, time [ http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/time.html ] appears to run slow. Since time-dilated [ http://www.fourmilab.ch/cship/timedial.html ] light appears shifted toward the red end of the spectrum [ http://www.lbl.gov/MicroWorlds/ALSTool/EMSpec/EMSpec2.html ] (redshifted), astronomers are able to use cosmological time-slowing [ http://itss.raytheon.com/cafe/cosm/expan.html ] to help measure vast distances [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/debate/debate96.html ] in the universe. Above [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2002/pr-04-02.html ], the light from distant galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000709.html ] has been broken up into its constituent colors (spectra [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/YBA/M31-velocity/galactic_redshift-2.html ]), allowing astronomers to measure the redshift [ http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~jh8h/glossary/redshift.htm ] of known spectral lines [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/how_l1/spectral_what.html ]. The novelty of the above image [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2002/pr-04-02.html ] is that the distance to hundreds of galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010904.html ] can now be measured on a single frame using the Visible MultiObject Spectrograph [ http://www.astrsp-mrs.fr/virmos/ ] that has begun operating at the Very Large Telescope array [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ] in Chile [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ci.html ]. Analyzing the space distribution of distant objects [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020117.html ] will allow insight into when and how stars, galaxies, and quasars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020309.html ] formed, clustered, and evolved [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990905.html ] in the early universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/debate/debate98.html ]. |
|
NGC 3621: Far Beyond the Loc
…
| Title |
NGC 3621: Far Beyond the Local Group |
| Explanation |
Far beyond [ http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0012372 ] the local group [ http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/localgr.html ] of galaxies lies NGC 3621 [ http://www.seds.org/~spider/ngc/ngc.cgi?3621 ], some 22 million light-years away. Found in the serpentine southern constellation Hydra [ http://www.astronomical.org/constellations/hya.html ], the loose spiral arms of this gorgeous island universe [ http://www.astr.ua.edu/goodies/data_resources/ galaxies.text ] are loaded with luminous young star clusters and dark dust lanes. Still, for earthbound astronomers NGC 3621 is not just another [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011004.html ] pretty face-on spiral galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010427.html ]. Some of its brighter stars [ http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/H0kp/n3621/n3621.html ] have been used as standard candles [ http://www.powersof10.com/powers/tools/station_232.html ] to establish [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/1999/19/ background.html ] important estimates of extragalactic distances [ http://casswww.ucsd.edu/public/tutorial/ Distances.html ] and the scale of the Universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/debate/debate96.html ]. This color picture was constructed from astronomical image data recorded with the Very Large Telescope Antu [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ], at Paranal Observatory in Chile. At the original resolution, individual, hot supergiant stars [ http://www.usm.uni-muenchen.de/people/kud/ windsfromhotstars/winds.html ] can be identified and studied across NGC 3621. |
|
Pluto & Charon Eclipse a Tri
…
| Title |
Pluto & Charon Eclipse a Triple Star |
| Explanation |
Occasionally, a planet in our Solar System [ http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] will pass in front of a bright star. Since stars and planets take up so little space on the sky, such events are quite rare. Two months ago, however, Pluto [ http://www.nineplanets.org/pluto.html ] and its large moon Charon [ http://www.nineplanets.org/pluto.html#charon ] passed in front of a comparatively bright triple star system [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991219.html ] known as P126. By noting how P126 A dimmed, the event was useful for studying Pluto's relatively unknown atmosphere [ http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/pluto/P_atm_evolution.html ]. A Very Large Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ] in Chile [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ci.html ] using a deformable mirror [ http://www.mtwilson.edu/Science/AdapOpt/Overview/ ] to counter the blurring effect [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000725.html ] of Earth's atmosphere captured the above image [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2002/phot-21-02.html ]. |
|
BHR 71: Stars, Clouds, and J
…
| Title |
BHR 71: Stars, Clouds, and Jets |
| Explanation |
What is happening to molecular cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010923.html ] BHR 71? Quite possible, a binary star [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991219.html ] system is forming inside. Most stars in our Galaxy [ http://casswww.ucsd.edu/public/tutorial/MW.html ] are part of binary star systems [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970219.html ], but few have ever been seen in formation. Recent observations [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2001ApJ...554L..91B ] of dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010813.html ]-darkened Bok Globule [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961229.html ] BHR 71, however, show evidence for two young stars forming deep in the cloud, likely close enough to form a binary [ http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/astro101/java/binary/binary.htm ]. Isolated BHR 71 [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~bourke/bhr71.html ] spans about one light year [ http://www.howstuffworks.com/question94.htm ] and lies only about 600 light years away in the southern sky [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000618.html ]. The brighter embedded star -- not visible here -- is about 10 times as bright as the Sun [ http://www.nineplanets.org/sol.html ] and drives the jet [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000321.html ] that swept out the empty lane. The above four-color image [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~bourke/papers.html ] was taken with a Very Large Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ] in Chile [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ci.html ]. |
|
VLT: A New Largest Optical T
…
| Title |
VLT: A New Largest Optical Telescope |
| Explanation |
What is the largest telescope in the world? In the optical, this title [ http://www.seds.org/billa/bigeyes.html ] was long held by the Hale 200-inch [ http://astro.caltech.edu/observatories/palomar/ ], and is presently held by the Keck telescopes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960715.html ] in Hawaii. But an even larger optical telescope is being built. Dubbed the Very Large Telescope [ http://www.eso.org/vlt/ ] (VLT), the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is building four 8.2-meter mirrors in Chile [ http://sunsite.dcc.uchile.cl/chile/chile.html ] which together will act as a single telescope with a mirror diameter of over 16-meters. The first of these telescopes should be completed [ http://www.eso.org/vlt/systeng/unitelsc/planning.htm ] in 1997, and all four should be completed and working together sometime in the year 2000. The VLT [ http://www.eso.org/vlt/systeng/unitelsc/uniteles.htm ] will use active optics [ http://www.pd.astro.it/TNG/TechRep/rep53/node4.html ] to create sub-arcsecond [ http://xalph.ast.cam.ac.uk/niel/scales1.ascii ] resolution. This, combined with the enormous light-gathering power, will allow astronomers to explore dim objects in our Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960213.html ] and the early universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960628.html ]. |
|
NGC 3621: Far Beyond the Loc
…
| Title |
NGC 3621: Far Beyond the Local Group |
| Explanation |
Far beyond [ http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0012372 ] the local group [ http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/localgr.html ] of galaxies lies NGC 3621 [ http://www.seds.org/~spider/ngc/ngc.cgi?3621 ], some 22 million light-years away. Found in the serpentine southern constellation Hydra [ http://www.astronomical.org/constellations/hya.html ], the loose spiral arms of this gorgeous island universe [ http://www.astr.ua.edu/goodies/data_resources/ galaxies.text ] are loaded with luminous young star clusters and dark dust lanes. Still, for earthbound astronomers NGC 3621 is not just another [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011004.html ] pretty face-on spiral galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010427.html ]. Some of its brighter stars [ http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/H0kp/n3621/n3621.html ] have been used as standard candles [ http://www.powersof10.com/powers/tools/station_232.html ] to establish [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/1999/19/ background.html ] important estimates of extragalactic distances [ http://casswww.ucsd.edu/public/tutorial/ Distances.html ] and the scale of the Universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/debate/debate96.html ]. This color picture was constructed from astronomical image data recorded with the Very Large Telescope Antu [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ], at Paranal Observatory in Chile. At the original resolution, individual, hot supergiant stars [ http://www.usm.uni-muenchen.de/people/kud/ windsfromhotstars/winds.html ] can be identified and studied across NGC 3621. |
|
Redshift 10: Evidence for a
…
| Title |
Redshift 10: Evidence for a New Farthest Galaxy |
| Explanation |
What's the farthest galaxy known? The answer keeps [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040217.html ] changing [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980324.html ] as astronomers compete to find galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040309.html ] that top the list. The new claimed record [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2004/pr-04-04.html ] holder is now the faint smudge indicated in the above images by an 8.2-meter Very Large Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ] (VLT) operating in Chile [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ci.html ]. Detected light left this galaxy 13.2 billion of years ago, well before the Earth formed, when the universe was younger than 3 percent of its present age [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031231.html ]. Astronomers have estimated [ http://www.arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0403025 ] a redshift [ http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~jh8h/glossary/redshift.htm ] of 10 for this galaxy, the first double-digit claim for any galaxy. Young galaxies are of much interest to astronomers because many unanswered questions exist on when and how galaxies formed in the early universe. The distant redshift, if confirmed, would also give valuable information about galaxy surroundings [ http://www.arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0403193 ] at the end of the universe's dark age [ http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0307396 ]. Although this galaxy's distance exceeds that of even the farthest known quasar [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000419.html ], it is still in front of the pervasive glowing gas that is now seen as the cosmic microwave background radiation [ http://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/scott/faq_basic.html ]. |
|
NGC 6302: The Butterfly Nebu
…
| Title |
NGC 6302: The Butterfly Nebula |
| Explanation |
The Butterfly Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971021.html ] is only thousands of years old. As a central star of a binary system [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970219.html ] aged, it threw off its outer envelopes of gas in a strong stellar wind [ http://mars-hotel.ph.msstate.edu/~mhia/data/S/Stellarwind.html ]. The remaining stellar core is so hot it ionizes the previously ejected gas, causing it to glow. The different colors of this planetary nebula [ http://www.seds.org/messier/planetar.html ] are determined by small differences in its composition. This bipolar nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971223.html ] will continue to shine brightly for only a few thousand more years, after which its central star will fade and become a white dwarf [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971102.html ] star. The above picture [ http://www.hq.eso.org/outreach/info-events/ut1fl/pr-pictures/ut1fl-set3.html#04 ] is one of the first ever taken by the Very Large Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960901.html ] (VLT), a new 8.2-meter telescope located in Chile [ http://sunsite.dcc.uchile.cl/chile/chile.html ]. |
|
The First Image of an Extra
…
| Title |
The First Image of an Extra Solar Planet |
| Explanation |
It's the faint red object, not the bright white one that might be a historic find. The white object is surely a brown dwarf star [ http://astron.berkeley.edu/~stars/bdwarfs/ ]. Quite possibly, however, the red object is the first direct image of a planet beyond [ http://exoplanets.org/ ] our Solar System [ http://www.nineplanets.org/overview.html ]. The intriguing possibility was first reported last year, but many astronomers weren't then convinced that the "planet" was not just a background star. Earlier this year, the 2M1207 star system [ http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planet_photo_040910.html ] was imaged twice more in an effort to resolve the issue. To the delight of the scientific team [ http://www.arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0504659 ], the objects kept the same separation, indicating that they are gravitationally bound [ http://www.edu-observatory.org/eo/binary_stars.html ]. The faint red object 2M1207b is therefore 100 times fainter, intrinsically, than the bright white brown dwarf 2M1207a -- a characteristic well explained by a planet roughly five times the mass of Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/jupiter.html ]. The discovery [ http://www.arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0504659 ] - still subject to further confirmation - is considered a step toward the more ambitious goal of imaging Earth-like planets [ http://origins.stsci.edu/under/planets.shtml ] orbiting distant stars. The above image [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2005/pr-12-05-p2.html ] was taken with the high-resolution adaptive-optic NaCo [ http://www.eso.org/instruments/naco/ ] camera attached to the 8-meter Very Large Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ] Yepun in Chile [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ci.html ]. |
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The VLT Interferometric Arra
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| Title |
The VLT Interferometric Array |
| Explanation |
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) Interferometric Array [ http://www.eso.org/projects/vlti/ ] will be able to act as individual telescopes or as one huge telescope. Of the four planned VLTs in Chile [ http://www.eso.org/paranal/ ], two have now reached completion. The first VLT [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981009.html ] to operate is visible on the left of the above photograph [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/info-events/ut1fl/pr-pictures/ut1fl-set1.html ] and was recently given the name Antu [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-1999/pr-06-99.html ]. To its right is Kueyen, which achieved its first observations just last week. Each VLT telescope [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/info-events/ut1fl/whitebook/ ] by itself is now one of the largest optical telescopes [ http://www.seds.org/billa/bigeyes.html ] in the world, joining the new cadre of large telescopes with mirrors greater than 8-meters in diameter. After Melipal and Yepun are completed in the next few years, the four VLTs [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960901.html ] will be able to combine their light [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/info-events/ut1fl/whitebook/wb90.html#ch90 ] to achieve the sensitivity of a single 16-meter telescope, and the resolution of a single 200-meter telescope. Over the next few years, the VLT telescopes will explore the universe [ http://www.eso.org/projects/vlti/science/index.html ] in unprecedented detail, searching for everything from ordinary planets orbiting nearby stars [ http://cannon.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/planetsearch/planetsearch.html ] to extraordinary explosions in the distant universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981230.html ]. |
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NGC 2997 from VLT
| Title |
NGC 2997 from VLT |
| Explanation |
Add another 8-meter telescope to the list of modern optical telescope giants [ http://www.seds.org/billa/bigeyes.html ]. Kueyen achieved a first-light photograph of a bright star on March 1, ahead of schedule. The above picture [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-1999/pr-06-99.html ] of spiral galaxy NGC 2997 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961030.html ] was taken with Antu [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-1999/pr-06-99.html ], the first of the four planned Very Large Telscopes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990309.html ] (VLTs) being built in Chile [ http://www.eso.org/paranal/site/paranal.html ] for the European Southern Observatory. NGC 2997 [ http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/universe_level2/ngc2997.html ] is a thin spiral galaxy [ http://www.seds.org/messier/spir.html ] tilted about 45 degrees with a bright compact nucleus and prominent lanes of dark dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980318.html ]. |
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Planets over Paranal
| Title |
Planets over Paranal |
| Explanation |
Very bright planets and very large telescopes [ http://astro.nineplanets.org/bigeyes.html ] are part of this sunset view of Paranal Observatory [ http://www.eso.org/paranal/ ]. The observatory's four, massive 8.2 meter telescope units are situated on top of the 2,600 meter high mountain, Cerro Paranal [ http://www.eso.org/paranal/site/paranal.html ], in the dry Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The individual unit telescopes can be used separately or in combination and are named [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000707.html ] Antu, Kueyen, Melipal, and Yepun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000927.html ]. Together they are fittingly known as the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. Of course, the very bright planets are Venus (near center), joined by Mercury (below) and Saturn (left) in late June's western evening skies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050702.html ]. |
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Neptune's "Hot" South Pole
PIA09927
Sol (our sun)
Mid-infrared Camera/Spectrom
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| Title |
Neptune's "Hot" South Pole |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
These thermal images show a "hot" south pole on the planet Neptune. These warmer temperatures provide an avenue for methane to escape out of the deep atmosphere. The images were obtained with the Very Large Telescope in Chile, using an imager/spectrometer for mid-infrared wavelengths on Sept. 1 and 2, 2006. The telescope is operated by the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (known as ESO). Scientists say Neptune's south pole is "hotter" than anywhere else on the planet by about 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit). The average temperature on Neptune is about minus 200 degrees Celsius (minus 392 degrees Fahrenheit). The upper left image samples temperatures near the top of Neptune's troposphere (near 100 millibar pressure, which is one-tenth the Earth atmospheric pressure at sea level). The hottest temperatures are indicated at the lower part of the image, at Neptune's south pole (see the graphic at the upper right). The lower two images, taken 6.3 hours apart, sample temperatures at higher altitudes in Neptune's stratosphere. They do show generally warmer temperatures near, but not at, the south pole. They also show a distinct warm area which can be seen in the lower left image and rotated completely around the back of the planet and returned to the earth-facing hemisphere in the lower right image. |
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