A Guide to the Cosmos, in Words and Images Dazzling and True

[t0dd]

Source: NY Times; Gallery: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/01/04/science/010510_BOOK_index.html

In the universe there is always room for another surprise. Or two. Or a trillion.

Take the Witch Head Nebula, for example — a puffy purplish trail of gas in the constellation Eridanus. When a picture of it is turned on its side, the nebula looks just like, well, a witch, complete with a pointy chin and peaked hat, ready to jump on a broomstick or offer an apple to Snow White.

In 30 years of covering astronomy, I had never heard of the Witch Head Nebula until I came across a haunting two-page spread showing it snaking across an inky black star-speckled background in “Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle,” an exquisite picture guide to the universe by Michael Benson, a photographer, journalist and filmmaker, and obviously a longtime space buff.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/science/05books.html?ref=global-home




The Andromeda Galaxy in all its glory. The nearest major spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, Andromeda, named after its constellation and also known as M31, is the largest galaxy in the Local Group of Galaxies. It is about 220,000 light years in diameter to the Milky Way's 100,000.



Resembling a huge paw print, the Cat's Paw Nebula is a star-formation region, with stars of close to 10 solar masses produced there in the past several million years. Its color is due to ionized hydrogen.



The colliding Antenna Galaxies, a hyperkinetic smashup in space, may approximate what will happen when the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy collide in about 2.5 billion years.



Eerily suspended Bok Globules -- the larva-like clouds of molecular hydrogen, helium and silicate dust visible throughout the Carina Nebula -- have been sculpted by radiation from the nebula's giant star, Eta Carina, which is not visible here.



The renowned Hubble Space Telescope rendition of the "Pillars of Creation" in the Eagle Nebula, here recreated using more accurate color data. Ionized molcular hydrogen can be seen evaporating from the tips of these star-forming columns of gas and dust, under pressure of ultraviolet light from the nebula's central blue giant stars.



Basking in the glow of the bright supergiant star Rigel, the Witch Head Nebula trails like a puff of smoke through the Eridanus constellation about 700 light years away.



Distinctive cloud formations in the Carina Nebula. At the tips of the dust and gas protrusions, excellent examples of Herbig-Haro objects can be seen. These high-speed jets of gas are the byproduct of the birth of new stars, still hidden in the clouds.



A startling interplay of blue and red colors characterizes NGC 2264, the region surrounding and including the Cone Nebula, which is at the bottom of the image. The region features immensely powerful blue stars, which light interstellar dust grains, producing the blue part of the glow. The red is from ionized hydrogen.



The sea-sponge-like Crab Nebula is a 6-light-year-wide remnantof a supernova that exploded in 1054 Earth time. It is mostly made of ionized hydrogen and helium, though carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and other atoms are present, producing the complex color blend visible here.



The spectacular Horsehead Nebula is actually a projection of cold gas and dust extending from the dense Orion Molecular Cloud.



"Anemic" galaxy NGC 4921 belongs to a class of galaxies in which star formation is nearly absent, giving it a haunting translucency.



NGC 6559 provides a perfect demonstration of the first parts of the stellar life cycle. In a kind of star assembly line, interstellar molecular clouds collapse, producing news stars, which then gradually push back the remaining gas and dust.



The Pelican Nebula. The seemingly sculpted formations in its upper area are the result of the erosion of gas and dust by young, energetic stars. A long tendril of colder gas and dust extends many light years into the void from the receding ionization front.



The Snake Nebula, silhouetted against ancient stars massed near the nucleus of our galaxy, which is about 25,000 light years away. A classic dark nebula, the Snake is a tendril of interstellar gas and dust about 650 light years away.



The center of the Rosette Nebula, which glows with the red light of ionized hyrdorgen, is fueled by a central cluster of powerful giant stars. 3,000 cubic light years of gas have been heated to a temperature of over 10 million degrees Farenheit here -- about half the temperature of the Sun's core.

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"The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us — there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation of a distant memory, as if we were falling from a great height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries. " -- Carl Sagan

[truedelphi]

1. These are fascinating and beautiful. n/t

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. thanks for the photos and story

[Hekate]

3. These photos are awe-inspiring in the truest sense. Thanks so much for posting them.

Needless to say, KnR.

Hekate

[silverweb]

4. Incredible.

Thank you for this!

[Blue Owl]

5. Way out there.

Way, way out there.

What stunning photos!

[niyad]

6. kick for any who might have missed these amazing photos

[jayfish]

7. I've Never Seen A Picture of The Horsehead Anywhere Near As Detailed As What You Posted.

Amazing!!

Jay

[atomic-fly]

8. Amazing photos!

I saw Andromeda from my back yard last night, although it was small/fuzzy and no color.