This is a photo of a new star being formed causing nebula IRAS 20324+4057. This was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2006. The bright yellow area is the star that is forming. As the it forms, light from other stars erodes away at the gas and dust which were part of the new star. While gas and dust is being eroded, rough winds from other stars are blowing. The winds blow the gas and dust into the shape that it takes here in the photo. The gas and dust being blown around by winds is the blue area. The caption under the photo describes the shape as a caterpillar. I the it looks more the a jellyfish. Most jellyfish are a very light transparent pink. But the brain of the jellyfish is dark red. This reminds me of a jellyfish because the bulk of it is blue but the color of the star forming is yellow. I think it is interesting how the color of dust and gases is a very light, almost neon blue and how the shade of blue varies throughout the nebula. I have a couple of questions to go along with the photo. First, what causes the color of the gas and dust? Second, Why does the shade of blue vary? Finally, why is the gas and dust still around the star? I would think that they would disperse into space.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130904.html
This picture is very interesting! I really enjoyed how you described the picture in your own words (jellyfish) that was a great way to describe it. Also your questions made me think twice about the picture, and look closely at it. Great job.
ReplyDeleteThis photo is very thought provoking as it shows the diversity of colors and shaped in space. I used to think that space was black and white and not too interesting. I obviously don't anymore but this picture represents the uniqueness of space and not just the plain stereotype.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the others, this picture is one of the most intriguing pictures of outer space. Also, I think you're opinion of the image looking like a jellyfish was more accurate than the actual source describing it as a caterpillar. It does have that strong resemblance to a jellyfish, except for the color, which you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteExcellent commentary and questions Jack.
ReplyDeleteI almost hate to tell you this, but the color isn't real. This image was taken with an infrared telescope. Infrared light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum invisible to the human eye. We use a computer to colorize the image based on the different intensities and size of the wavelengths.
To quote from NASA:
"This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS instrument and the Isaac Newton Telescope. Several filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are:
INT: H-alpha cyan
ACS: F606W (V) blue
ACS: F814W (I) red"
Information from: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2013/35/fastfacts/