APOD 4.6 Star Cluster R136 Bursts Out

Taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, this beautiful picture is of the star forming region 30 Doradus. The bright cluster of stars located in the region is Star Cluster R136, a cluster that is known for its massive stars. In fact the most hottest and massive stars known are located in this cluster. 30 Doradus is also known as the Tarantula Nebula. Ultraviolet radiation and powerful winds coming from the Cluster sculpts the gas and dust of the Nebula. It lies 170,000 light years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighboring galaxy.

APOD 4.5 Carina Nebula Panorama from Hubble

Spanning 300 light years across and 7,500 light years away in the constellation Carina is this amazing nebula, NGC 3372, also known as the Great Nebula in Carina. Eta Carinae is the most active star in this nebula and was once the brightest in the 1830's before suddenly fading. In the Keyhole nebula, left of center, some of the most massive stars known are located there.

This false color image was taken by the Hubble Telescope and is the most detailed picture taken of this nebula. It is a composite of 48 high-resolute frames and was released in honor of Hubble's 17th anniversary. Wide-field annotated and zoomable image versions are available.

APOD 4.4 NGC 5139: Omega Centauri

This picture is quite stellar, literally. Shown here is the largest known globular cluster in our galaxy. Omega Centauri is in the constellation Centaurus, a constellation that holds many wonders including the closest star system-Alpha Centauri. Omega Centauri is a wonder in itself. Most globular clusters are made out of old stars but Omega consists of a range of ages. In fact with it consisting of over 10 million stars and 150 light-years across, it may be the remnant of the core of a smaller galaxy that has merged with our own Milky Way.

APOD 4.3 Americans Defeat Russians in First Space Quidditch Match

Now this is an interesting Picture. After playing a hard fought match against the Russians, American astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria has caught the elusive snitch. Making the final score... Just Kidding! This picture was posted on April Fools Day, and although a quidditch match would have been interesting (had it been possible), the picture shows American astronauts space walking to help build the International Space Station.

Galaxies: Normal and Active

Normal:
Main Types-Spirals- Sa, Sb, Sc Sa-tightest arms Sc-loosest arms http://www.creationofuniverse.com/1024/images/Spiral_Galaxy_jpg.jpg
Barred-Spirals- SBa, SBb, SBc http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/forefront/spring2006/images/seti3.jpg
Elliptical-E0-E7, E0-least elliptical E7-most Elliptical
http://www.nasm.si.edu/exploretheuniverse/kiosks/whatsnew/whatsNewImages/April24pressreleasephotos.jpg
Irregular http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=21267&rendTypeId=4


Sizes: Spirals/Barred- 5-100kpc diameter, 10^9-10^12 solar masses
Ellipticals- 1/10 -100kpc diameter, 10^7 up to 10^13 solar masses
Irregulars- 1-10kpc diameter, 10^8-10^10 solar masses


Characteristics- Spirals-Thin and flat spiral structure with a central bulge, disk and arms, has lots of dust and clouds and has star formation mostly in arms.
http://nrumiano.free.fr/Images_gx/structure_gx_E.jpg
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/galaxies/spiral.html
Barred-Spirals- Same as spiral but core has a band of stars, gas, and dust. Arms extend from this bar.
Ellipticals-Has no arms or spiral structure, no disk, little dust and gas, little to none star formation, tend to have older stars.
Irregular-Has little symmetry in there structure, has active star formations, every other type of galaxy, but Active Galaxies

Active Galaxies: Galaxies with active violent processes in the center. May have jets, X-ray bursts, other radiation, and or unusual structures esp. of the nucleus
http://glast.sonoma.edu/images/AGN.jpg

Origins of Galaxies: Don't know specifics, Article:
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/cosmic_galaxies_020122-1.html

APOD 4.3 Galaxy Group Hickson 44

I'm doing this APOD entry early because I won't be home this spring break-I'll be in EUROPE!!!!

Anyway, this APOD picture is of NGC 3190 Group, also known as Galaxy Group Hicksen 44. It is a group of galaxies instead of a cluster because it has more than two galaxies but less than the hundreds that make up a cluster. The Hicksen 44 Group is 60 million light-years away and is in the constellation of Leo. It contains several spiral galaxies as well as an elliptical galaxy, seen in the upper left. A more famous group of Galaxies is the Local Group of Galaxies which has over 30 galaxies including our own Milky Way, Andromeda, and the Magellanic Clouds. Many galaxies in compact groups like Hicksen 44 are either merging or being gravitaionally pulled apart.

March 17---HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

To celebrate I went out to look at Saturn. At first I didn't know which point of light was the planet. I did know it was east of Gemini and right next to Leo, though finding Leo was tricky. After consulting a sky map various times, I did find Saturn (and then I found Leo), it was so cool! I could see the space between the rings and the planet, and when I went to a higher resolution I could see one of Saturn's moon to the south. With the higher resolution I found the Orion Nebula though it looked like a giant fuzzy pach with stars in the foreground. After that, I turned the telescope toward the big dipper and looked at that multi-binary star in the middle of the handle. With the naked eye, it looked like a regular binary star, but in the viewing window the tw stars turned into three. There was two bright ones to the north and south and a fainter one to the east. The star to the north had a companion, but that was the only star I could see with a companion.