"A Look to the Heavens" -- Alpha Centauri
Apr 21, 2017 16:30:14 #
"A Look to the Heavens"
Posted: 20 Apr 2017 03:28 PM PDT
"The glare of Alpha Centauri, one of the brightest stars in planet Earth's night sky, floods the left side of this southern skyscape. A mere 4.3 light-years distant, Alpha Centauri actually consists of two component stars similar in size to the Sun, locked in a mutual orbit. Much smaller and cooler, a third member of the same star system, Proxima Centauri, lies outside this field of view.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n-NQ1lR_A5k/T-vx6u4Z8DI/AAAAAAAArUY/VUBhtaXLnkU/s1600/AlphaCenHe2111_lorenzi900.jpg
Still, the telescopic scene does reveal often overlooked denizens of the Milky Way's crowded galactic plane that lie beyond the glare of Alpha Centauri, including a planetary nebula cataloged as Hen 2-111, an estimated 7,800 light-years away. The gaseous shroud of a dying star, the nebula's brighter core and fainter halo of reddish ionized gas span over twenty light-years, seen just right of picture center. Farther right are two notable open clusters of stars, the compact Pismis 19 also nearly 8,000 light-years away whose light is reddened by intervening dust, and the looser, closer NGC 5617. Just visible in the glare of Alpha Centauri is the dim glow of a shell-like supernova remnant, above and right of the closest star system's bright core.”
- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120628.html
Posted: 20 Apr 2017 03:28 PM PDT
"The glare of Alpha Centauri, one of the brightest stars in planet Earth's night sky, floods the left side of this southern skyscape. A mere 4.3 light-years distant, Alpha Centauri actually consists of two component stars similar in size to the Sun, locked in a mutual orbit. Much smaller and cooler, a third member of the same star system, Proxima Centauri, lies outside this field of view.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n-NQ1lR_A5k/T-vx6u4Z8DI/AAAAAAAArUY/VUBhtaXLnkU/s1600/AlphaCenHe2111_lorenzi900.jpg
Still, the telescopic scene does reveal often overlooked denizens of the Milky Way's crowded galactic plane that lie beyond the glare of Alpha Centauri, including a planetary nebula cataloged as Hen 2-111, an estimated 7,800 light-years away. The gaseous shroud of a dying star, the nebula's brighter core and fainter halo of reddish ionized gas span over twenty light-years, seen just right of picture center. Farther right are two notable open clusters of stars, the compact Pismis 19 also nearly 8,000 light-years away whose light is reddened by intervening dust, and the looser, closer NGC 5617. Just visible in the glare of Alpha Centauri is the dim glow of a shell-like supernova remnant, above and right of the closest star system's bright core.”
- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120628.html
Apr 21, 2017 16:36:17 #
bggamers
Loc: georgia
I think we forget to look up and be amazed at what God made for us to gaze at it's beautiful thank you
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