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Out of the Void Poster by Bebops
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Zazzle Kitchen Towels from Bebops: Hairy Woodpecker Kitchen Towel
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Monogram Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672 Pillow
tagged with: monogram initials, star galaxies, deep space astronomy, barred spiral galaxy, starry space picture, galactic arms, supermassive black hole, dust lanes, star forming galaxy, hrbstslr bsgsst
Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series This NASA Hubble Space Telescope view of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672 unveils details in the galaxy's star-forming clouds and dark bands of interstellar dust.
One of the most striking features is the dust lanes that extend away from the nucleus and follow the inner edges of the galaxy's spiral arms. Clusters of hot young blue stars form along the spiral arms and ionize surrounding clouds of hydrogen gas that glow red. Delicate curtains of dust partially obscure and redden the light of the stars behind them by scattering blue light.
Galaxies lying behind NGC 1672 give the illusion they are embedded in the foreground galaxy, even though they are really much farther away. They also appear reddened as they shine through NGC 1672's dust. A few bright foreground stars inside our own Milky Way Galaxy appear in the image as bright and diamond-like objects.
As a prototypical barred spiral galaxy, NGC 1672 differs from normal spiral galaxies, in that the arms do not twist all the way into the center. Instead, they are attached to the two ends of a straight bar of stars enclosing the nucleus. Viewed nearly face on, NGC 1672 shows intense star formation regions especially off in the ends of its central bar.
Astronomers believe that barred spirals have a unique mechanism that channels gas from the disk inward towards the nucleus. This allows the bar portion of the galaxy to serve as an area of new star generation.
NGC 1672 is also classified as a Seyfert galaxy. Seyferts are a subset of galaxies with active nuclei. The energy output of these nuclei can sometimes outshine their host galaxies. This activity is powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes.
NGC 1672 is more than 60 million light-years away in the direction of the southern constellation Dorado. These observations of NGC 1672 were taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in August of 2005. The composite image was made by using filters that isolate light from the blue, green, and infrared portions of the spectrum, as well as emission from ionized hydrogen.
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image code: bsgsst
Image credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
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Zazzle Throw Pillow from Bebops: Hairy Woodpecker Pillow
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Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Spiral Galaxy NGC 1232, astronomy space picture Wristwatch
tagged with: star clusters, breathtaking astronomy images, european southern observatory, inspirational, star forming regions, young blue stars, galactic arms, heavens, spiral galaxies, hrbstslr spgxy1232, eso, vista
Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A fantastic astronomy image featuring a little of the wonder that is our universe.
This spectacular image of the large spiral galaxy NGC 1232 was obtained on September 21, 1998, during a period of good observing conditions. It is based on three exposures in ultra-violet, blue and red light, respectively. The colours of the different regions are well visible : the central areas contain older stars of reddish colour, while the spiral arms are populated by young, blue stars and many star-forming regions. Note the distorted companion galaxy on the left side, shaped like the greek letter "theta".
NGC 1232 is located 20º south of the celestial equator, in the constellation Eridanus (The River). The distance is about 100 million light-years, but the excellent optical quality of the VLT and FORS allows us to see an incredible wealth of details.
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image code: spgxy253
ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
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Zazzle Card from Bebops: Hairy Woodpecker Cards
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Monday, January 5, 2015
Witch Head Nebula deep space astronomy image Post Card
tagged with: star galaxies, outer space picture, deep space astronomy, witch head nebula, screaming witch, cursing witch, nasa space photograph, faces in space, witches curse, hrbstslr wtchneb
Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A witch appears to be screaming out into space in this image from NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The infrared portrait shows the Witch Head nebula, named after its resemblance to the profile of a wicked witch. Astronomers say the billowy clouds of the nebula, where baby stars are brewing, are being lit up by massive stars. Dust in the cloud is being hit with starlight, causing it to glow with infrared light, which was picked up by WISE's detectors.
The Witch Head nebula is estimated to be hundreds of light-years away in the Orion constellation, just off the famous hunter's knee.
WISE was recently "awakened" to hunt for asteroids in a program called NEOWISE. The reactivation came after the spacecraft was put into hibernation in 2011, when it completed two full scans of the sky, as planned.
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image code: wtchneb
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Zazzle Tote Bag from Bebops: Hairy Woodpecker Tote Bag
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Sunday, January 4, 2015
Monogram Celestial Bauble - SXP1062 space picture Pick
tagged with: pulsar, star galaxies, outer space picture, small magellanic cloud, deep space astronomy, supernova remnant, smc, astronomy picture, monogram initials, hrbstslr spx1062, star incubator, sculptured gas clouds, star factory, hot young stars
Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series In this composite image, X-rays from Chandra and XMM-Newton have been colored blue and optical data from the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile are colored red and green. The flowering shape is a star factory and the bright blue star is the pulsar, known as SXP 1062. Astronomers are interested in SXP 1062 because it's spinning unusually slowly - about once every 18 minutes. (In contrast, some pulsars are found to revolve up to 1000 times per second)
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image code: sxp1062
Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al & ESA/XMM-Newton; Optical: AURA/NOAO/CTIO/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al
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Zazzle iPad Case from Bebops: Hairy Woodpecker Powis iPad Air 2 Case
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