M16, Eagle Nebula

(Click image to enlarge)

7000 light years away from our own Milky Way Galaxy, in the constellation Serpens Cauda, lies the familiar Eagle Nebula. It is comprised of M16, an open star cluster, and IC 4703, a large, diffuse emission Nebula. The iconic “Pillars of Creation” is a familiar sight to many due to the 1995 Hubble Telescope image, and can be seen at the center of this image. The “Spire” can also be seen to the left of the “Pillars”. These areas have been thought to be active star forming regions, but recent evidence from the Chandra X-Ray Telescope, show that the most active star forming areas do not coincide with the Pillars. There is evidence that star formation in the pillars peaked over 1 million years ago. There are still many protostars in the region.

In January of 2007, a team using the Spitzer Infrared Telescope, discovered that a Supernova in the vicinity of M16 most likely has already blown away the pillars. (“Famous Space Pillars Feel the Heat of Star's Explosion”, NASA Press Release, January 7, 2007) A large dust cloud, that appears to be powered by a Supernova, can be seen moving toward the pillars in the infrared spectrum. Since we are 7000 light years away, and the reported supernova is estimated to have taken place 6000 years ago, we will not be able to visually confirm the pillars destruction for another 1000 years…still plenty of time to enjoy them!


Location: Starlodge Observatory
Date: June, 2008
Camera: SBIG STL 11000
Telescope: CDK 12.5
Ha:L:R:G:B 180:180:90:90:90

An Iris Rising from the Dust

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NGC7023, Iris Nebula

We usually think of space as a place filled with island universes that we know as galaxies. Each galaxy being comprised of literally hundreds of billions of stars. We may assume that between all of these stars and galaxies lies empty space. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Space is home to a sea of molecular clouds and interstellar dust, interspersed only occasionally by a nuclear furnace we call a star. It is estimated that 1000 tons of dust rains down on the earth every year. This dust has its origins in broken up asteroids, comet tails and spent stars whose wake our earth is passing through on its journey through space. Larger stars end their life cycle in a cataclysmic explosion that accelerates dust and elements throughout the cosmos. The shock waves from such explosions also act as the catalyst to begin new star formation in already existing dust filled molecular clouds. Such clouds represent the more dense areas of the interstellar medium. Those with a core size of approximately 10,000 AU, (AU= Astronomical Unit= distance between the Sun and the Earth= 93 million miles) are relatively unstable, and only a small increase in density can lead to “Jeans Instability”. When this density level occurs, a blast wave as described above will initiate a collapse event where the cloud will begin to fall into itself as gravity has it’s way…and a stars creation has begun.

In the image above, such a process has occurred. A radiant and reflective dust filled molecular cloud, NGC7023 surrounds a relatively young, pre-main sequence host star, HD 200775. HD200775 is a 10 solar mass Herbig Be star. The strong solar winds emitted by this star form the unique Iris pattern, for which this nebula is named. The winds work to push back the dusty, molecular cloud from which the star was formed. Most of the color near the star is blue, as the light reflects off innumerable particles of dust. Hues of red and purple are also seen as hydrogen and other elements are ionized by the radiation from the star. Some areas of dust surrounding the star are completely black and opaque to the naked eye. Infrared surveys however reveal similar star formation occurring inside the body of these black Iris petals as well.

Image Acquisition info:

Location: Star Lodge Observatory
Date: May, 2008
Scope: Planewave, CDK 12.5
Camera: SBIG STL 11000
LRGB 310:120:120:120 (11 hrs of data)

A Flower Full of Suns

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The Sunflower Galaxy (M63)

Some 35 million light years away, tucked away in the constellation Canes Venatica, lies the beautiful Sunflower Galaxy. It is close to the size of the Milky Way, with light taking about 70,000 years to travel from one side of the galaxy to the other. M63 belongs to a group of galaxies with M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy being the largest of the group. Note the cloud of dust and molecular gas that surrounds M63. The stars on the outskirts of the galaxy are traveling so fast that if it were not for the gravitational interaction of this cloud upon the stars, they would most likely fly off into space. M51 and some smaller surrounding galaxies do have a significant gravitational impact on M63. One can see the result of at least one element of this interaction as a piece of M63 has broken due to the tidal forces of it’s neighbors. A close up view of the galaxy can be seen on my other website at http://www.pbase.com/kvwood/image/98454120

In the full frame image of this galaxy, http://www.pbase.com/kvwood/image/98454171 , 19 other galaxies can easily be seen in the background, much further away. The furthest, SDSS J131347.35+420458.5, lies approximately 4.2 billion light years away. A light year is approximately 6 trillion miles, which places this galaxy about 4.2 billion trillion miles or 4.2 times ten to the 21st power.

Cluster of Lights

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"I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is not God"

Abraham Lincoln

The image above is that of M13, “The Great globular cluster in Hercules”. This gravitationally bound cluster lies about 25,000 light-years away from us within the Milky Way Galaxy, and is comprised of several hundred thousand stars. These are older, Population II stars, many of which have left the main sequence and are now red giants. Globular clusters, such as M13 are most common in the Halo of our galaxy that surrounds the core. The varying colors present in this image are reflective of the differing temperatures and sizes of stars comprising the cluster. Another, smaller galaxy, IC 4617, can be seen above and to the right of M13. It is a 16th magnitude galaxy

Image details:
Location: Star Lodge Observatory
Date: May, 2008
Telescope: Planewave CDK 12.5
Camera: SBIG STL 11000
LRGB 35:20:20:20

The Heart of Orion

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“Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads off from this world to another”
Plato (c.428-348 BC), The Republic

M42, Orion's Nebula and the Running Man

As Astronomers have labored to understand the workings of the Great Designer and Creator of the Universe, they have come to believe that our Solar System was formed some 4.5 Billion years ago from a protoplanetary disk that surrounded our Sun when it was in it’s infancy. This disk was comprised of gas and dust, most likely remnant material from a earlier nova or supernova. The gas and dust eventually coalesced into planetesimals, protoplanets, and eventually into the 8 planets of our solar system. The rest of the gas was blown away into interstellar space. Today, to see a model of what may have occurred 4.5 billion years ago, we need only take a look at the heart of the Orion Nebula, M42. This greatest of all stellar nurseries within our view, has about 700 stars at differing levels of maturity, and about 120 “Proplyds” (Protoplanetary disks). The Hubble telescope has identified these “Proplyds”, which suggests that the formation of solar systems like our own is a fairly common phenomenon.

In the image above, M42, the Great Orion Nebula takes center stage. It is one of the most photographed and studied objects in the Heavens. It lies about 1200 light years from us, is 24 light years across, and is visible to the naked eye, making up the center object of Orion’s Sword, which hangs southeast of the well known Belt. It is part of the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex that stretches northward enveloping the Horsehead and Flame Nebulae as well as Barnards loop. M43 is the small HII region separated from M42 by a strong dust lane. NGC1977 can be seen north (to the left in this image) of M42/43 and is also called the “Running Man Nebula”. At the heart of M42 lies the Trapezium, a collection of 4 (6 actually, if you count the 2 binary stars of this asterism) extremely young hot O class stars that generate a lot of ionizing energy and turbulent stellar winds.

If one looks carefully, a green hue can be seen surrounding the Nebula. This puzzled astronomers for years. In fact, in the early part of the 20th century, scientists believed that a mysterious new element called “Nebulium” was the source of this eerie green hue. It is now know to be caused by a low-probability electron transition in doubly ionized oxygen. O-class stars within the region create ionizing radiation and the red hue that is visible. The blue is reflected radiation from the same stars.

Image Acquisition information:

Date: December 2007
Location: Starlodge Observatory
Telescope: FSQ 106
Camera: STL 11000
LRGB: 50:60:60:60 (600 second sub-exposures). All color data was added to luminance as well. 5:5:5:5 (30 second sub-exposures for trapezium area). 70 minutes of Ha data was also added to the Luminance.

Gamma Cassiopeia

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Floating in a sea of stars that is our own Milky Way Galaxy lies the Gamma Cassiopeia Nebula (IC 59/63). This is an object that is not imaged very often and is very dim. A narrow band Hydrogen Alpha filter allows us to see more of this emission/reflection nebula due to the energized Hydrogen gas from the radiation emitted from the nearby star, Gamma Cassiopeia. The front edge of the nebula takes the brunt of the stars radiation and glows red, while the blue area behind the front, is simply reflected and refracted light.

Gamma Cassiopeia is the middle star of the well-known “W” asterism of Cassiopeia in the autumn sky. This hot, blue, Class B star is an eruptive variable, which means it will vary in brightness from about 1.6 magnitude to about 3.0. Gamma Cas is about 40,000 times more luminous than our sun (including the ultraviolet radiation from the 25,000 Kelvin surface) and about 15 times more massive. One of the very peculiar aspects of this Be class star is that it rotates at about 300 kilometers per hour at its equator. This is 150 times faster than our suns rotation. This rotation, along with the size of the star, is believed to cause a “decretion” disk. Mass is lost from the rapidly spinning star and forms a disk around the star. It is believed that this disk contributes to the variation in luminosity.

Image Acquisition information:

Date: December 2007
Location: Star-lodge Observatory
Scope: FSQ 106
Camera: STL 11000
L(Ha)R(Ha)GB 100:40:60:60:60

Cosmic Christmas Wreath

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(Click to enlarge)

At this Christmas season, our thoughts turn to the birth of the Babe of Bethlehem, our Savior Jesus Christ. One wonders what the Shepherds must have felt as they looked into the sky and saw the new star...and then received further witness of his arrival from an Angel and Heavenly Choirs. The witness of his arrival some 2000 years ago came from above. Today, the Heavens continue to witness to us that He lives and loves us; that he has magnificent power, and is concerned for our welfare. Speaking of the Heavenly signs that are made available to us as a continuing witness, the prophet Moses declared, “Behold, . . . all things are created and made to bear record of [God], . . . things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth . . . : all things bear record of [God]” (Moses 6:63; emphasis added). Enoch (in an apocryphal record) said that ... "I blessed the Lord of glory, who had made those great and splendid signs, that they might display the magnificence of his works to angels and to the souls of men; and that these might glorify all his works and operations; might see the effect of his power; might glorify the great labor of his hands; and bless him forever." Enoch 35:3 (Apocryphal)

The above image serves as a reminder of the magnificence of His works and the great labor extended on our behalf. My inclination is like that of Enoch's...to strive to "bless Him forever"

IC 1396
Located in the constellation Cepheus, IC 1396 is one of the largest emission nebulae in our galaxy, spanning 3 degrees across the sky, which is equivalent to 6 full moons. It lies almost 3000 light years away from earth. This image is taken with an Ha or Hydrogen Alpha filter. Energetic ultraviolet light radiating from the central star in this image, strips electrons away from the hydrogen gas that is the main component of this nebula. Then, as the electrons recombine with the hydrogen gas, photons are emitted. The strongest visible emission band is in the red part of the spectrum and is the Hydrogen Alpha Band, which is what we are seeing in this image.

The Elephant Trunk Nebula is a famous object seen in the upper left quadrant. The bright rim on this extended cloud is indicative of the active stellar formation that is occurring within the cloud. Strong radiation from nascent stars makes this area glow. Eventually the dark clouds will be blown away by this radiation, leaving the stars to our view. This process is seen clearly in the more widely viewed “Pillars of Creation” shot taken of the Eagle Nebula by the Hubble telescope. Also visible are multiple black, dense, clouds of dust called Bok Globules. These are also areas of new star formation. (Image was chosen as APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day) on NASA's website on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2007)

Image Acquisition information:

Date: November, 2007

Location: Starlodge Observatory, Ione CA

Telescope: FSQ 106

Camera: STL 11000

L(Ha)RGB : 80:30:30:30