Sunday 25 August 2013

Stellar Nursery R136 in the Tarantula Nebula Messenger Bags


Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series Hundreds of brilliant blue stars wreathed by warm, glowing clouds in appear in this the most detailed view of the largest stellar nursery in our local galactic neighborhood. The massive, young stellar grouping, called R136, is only a few million years old and resides in the 30 Doradus (or Tarantula) Nebula, a turbulent star-birth region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way.
There is no known star-forming region in our galaxy as large or as prolific as 30 Doradus. Many of the diamond-like icy blue stars are among the most massive stars known. Several of them are over 100 times more massive than our Sun. These hefty stars are destined to pop off, like a string of firecrackers, as supernovas in a few million years. The image, taken in ultraviolet, visible, and red light by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, spans about 100 light-years.
The movement of the LMC around the Milky Way may have triggered the massive cluster's formation in several ways. The gravitational tug of the Milky Way and the companion Small Magellanic Cloud may have compressed gas in the LMC. Also, the pressure resulting from the LMC plowing through the Milky Way's halo may have compressed gas in the satellite. The cluster is a rare, nearby example of the many super star clusters that formed in the distant, early universe, when star birth and galaxy interactions were more frequent.
The LMC is located 170,000 light-years away and is a member of the Local Group of Galaxies, which also includes the Milky Way. The Hubble observations were taken Oct. 20-27, 2009. The blue color is light from the hottest, most massive stars; the green from the glow of oxygen; and the red from fluorescing hydrogen.

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image code: dorneblmc

Image credit: Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3
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Astronomy iPhone 5 Cover

Here's a great product from Zazzle featuring an astronomy phone case. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!

here's a design from one of the greats - UNIQUEHORN,
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Shiny phone case, colorful with glitter.

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Luck on Challenge, Red Supergiant Star Monocerotis Greeting Card


Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A gorgeous astronomy picture featuring a distant star, named V838 Monocerotis, in the direction of the constellation of Monoceros on the outer edge of our Milky Way. The image shows the swirls of dust spiralling across trillions of miles of interstellar space, lit mainly from within by a pulse of light from the red supergiant, two years into its journey.

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Image credit: NASA, the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI) and ESA
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Bubbles in Space iPhone 3 Cases

Here's a great product from Zazzle featuring an astronomy phone case. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!


look at this great design from ringme,
another talented artist from the Zazzle community!

A space-like digital image.

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The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!