Posts Tagged stars
Poetry Corner
Posted by Danielle in Books & Literature on February 15, 2010
Credit & Copyright: Rogelio Bernal Andreo (Deep Sky Colors), deepskycolors.com
Thought I’d share yesterday’s lovely Valentine-y APOD with you all, and… some of my poetry. Starting with the older stuff first to shame myself into finishing some new stuff.
Sonnet #2 – On the stars
O what could be the color of a star?
These velvet skies, all strewn with broken glass
So distanced, merely guess at where they are
Omniscient flames that watch what comes to pass.
Some say a goddess shot them from a bow
They scattered from her fingertips like sand
To drift down through the heavens, diamond snow
Like crystal violets falling from her hand.
They twinkle with their carefree voices calling
We listen, but they never seem to mind.
Sometimes you see a gleaming fragment falling
And trailing astral glitter-gems behind.
Tonight I reach for heaven as I must
And try to catch the falling silver dust.
The Stars Behind the Curtain
Credit: ESO (European Southern Observatory)
It’s images like this, with a thousand thousand cosmic Christmas trees a-twinkling, that make me wish I could be out there, floating on the night. (Preferably with some protective gear and a breathing apparatus.)
ESO is releasing a magnificent VLT image of the giant stellar nursery surrounding NGC 3603, in which stars are continuously being born. Embedded in this scenic nebula is one of the most luminous and most compact clusters of young, massive stars in our Milky Way, which therefore serves as an excellent “local” analogue of very active star-forming regions in other galaxies. The cluster also hosts the most massive star to be “weighed” so far.
NGC 3603 is a starburst region: a cosmic factory where stars form frantically from the nebula’s extended clouds of gas and dust. Located 22 000 light-years away from the Sun, it is the closest region of this kind known in our galaxy, providing astronomers with a local test bed for studying intense star formation processes, very common in other galaxies, but hard to observe in detail because of their great distance from us. [Read more.]
Seven Sisters
Seven Sisters, by Alan Tough (astronut2007 on Flickr)
I was browsing the Astronomy Photographer of the Year (Pool) at Flickr, and had to share this fantastic photo by Alan Tough (I’m a sucker for the Pleiades.) Sir, you are one talented photographer!
Molecular Cloud
Today’s picture is a big cloud of… dark. I have a cold and this reminds me of how my head feels today. A dense cloud that nothing can penetrate. :P
Where did all the stars go? What used to be considered a hole in the sky is now known to astronomers as a dark molecular cloud. Here, a high concentration of dust and molecular gas absorb practically all the visible light emitted from background stars. The eerily dark surroundings help make the interiors of molecular clouds some of the coldest and most isolated places in the universe. One of the most notable of these dark absorption nebulae is a cloud toward the constellation Ophiuchus known as Barnard 68, pictured above. That no stars are visible in the center indicates that Barnard 68 is relatively nearby, with measurements placing it about 500 light-years away and half a light-year across. It is not known exactly how molecular clouds like Barnard 68 form, but it is known that these clouds are themselves likely places for new stars to form. In fact, Barnard 68 itself has recently been found likely to collapse and form a new star system. It is possible to look right through the cloud in infrared light.
Shooting Star Pendant
Posted by Danielle in Fashion & Accessories on October 30, 2009
A striking pendant in sterling silver. And suddenly it reminds me very much of a cookie press insert. But spacey.
History of Space Films
Posted by Danielle in Entertainment on October 16, 2009
A Brief History of Space Films since Star Wars, image by dailyfill.com.
Go to DailyFill.com for the full-size version of their brief history of space films since Star Wars, mapped by location (and color-coded for box-office hits… and misses.)
Stars, by Robert Frost
Posted by Danielle in Books & Literature on October 12, 2009
Star Forming Region LH 95
STARS
How countlessly they congregate
O’er our tumultuous snow,
Which flows in shapes as tall as trees
When wintry winds do blow!–As if with keenness for our fate,
Our faltering few steps on
To white rest, and a place of rest
Invisible at dawn,–And yet with neither love nor hate,
Those stars like some snow-white
Minerva’s snow-white marble eyes
Without the gift of sight.— Robert Frost
Silver Stars
Posted by Danielle in Art & Architecture, Entertainment on September 23, 2009
I saw this beautifully framed on Saturday — it’s actually the sheet music for Silver Stars by Carl Bohm. (As I was in an antique store, the pictures I took secretly are of terrible quality; these are from eBay.) Definitely would not mind hanging this art on my office wall!
Merope
The Merope Nebula, image © Russell Croman
This is another beautiful image by Russell Croman. Merope is a star in the Pleiades cluster. A large (desktop-sized) version can be downloaded at the link above.
The brilliant star Merope is one of the members of the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, a cluster of young, hot stars about 400 light years from earth. Intense bluish light from Merope illuminates wisps of cosmic dust which appear to swaddle the young stars in blankets of nebulosity.
Dark River
I don’t usually cheat and post today’s APOD, like, TODAY, but today’s photo by Jason Jennings is so gorgeous that I couldn’t resist.
Connecting the Pipe Nebula to the colorful region near bright star Antares is a dark cloud dubbed the Dark River, flowing from the picture’s left edge. Murky looking, the Dark River’s appearance is caused by dust obscuring background starlight, although the dark nebula contains mostly hydrogen and molecular gas. Surrounded by dust, Antares, a red supergiant star, creates an unusual bright yellowish reflection nebula. Above it, bright blue double star Rho Ophiuchi is embedded in one of the more typical bluish reflection nebulae, while red emission nebulae are also scattered around the region. Globular star cluster M4 is just seen above and right of Antares, though it lies far behind the colorful clouds, at a distance of some 7,000 light-years. The Dark River itself is about 500 light years away. The colorful skyscape is a mosaic of telescopic images spanning nearly 10 degrees (20 Full Moons) across the sky in the constellation Scorpius.
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