grobi
@grobi@defcon.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
2025 November 20 Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka * Image Credit & Copyright: Aygen Erkaslan Explanation: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka are the bright bluish stars from east to west (upper right to lower left) along the diagonal in this cosmic vista. Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion, these three blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun. They lie from 700 to 2,000 light-years away, born of Orion's well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust adrift in this region have some surprisingly familiar shapes, including the dark Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula near Alnitak at the upper right. The famous Orion Nebula itself is off the right edge of this colorful starfield. The telescopic frame spans almost 4 degrees on the sky. Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply. NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices; A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
2025 November 20 Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka * Image Credit & Copyright: Aygen Erkaslan Explanation: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka are the bright bluish stars from east to west (upper right to lower left) along the diagonal in this cosmic vista. Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion, these three blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun. They lie from 700 to 2,000 light-years away, born of Orion's well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust adrift in this region have some surprisingly familiar shapes, including the dark Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula near Alnitak at the upper right. The famous Orion Nebula itself is off the right edge of this colorful starfield. The telescopic frame spans almost 4 degrees on the sky. Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply. NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices; A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
2025 November 20 Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka * Image Credit & Copyright: Aygen Erkaslan Explanation: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka are the bright bluish stars from east to west (upper right to lower left) along the diagonal in this cosmic vista. Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion, these three blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun. They lie from 700 to 2,000 light-years away, born of Orion's well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust adrift in this region have some surprisingly familiar shapes, including the dark Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula near Alnitak at the upper right. The famous Orion Nebula itself is off the right edge of this colorful starfield. The telescopic frame spans almost 4 degrees on the sky. Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply. NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices; A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
grobi
@grobi@defcon.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
2025 November 20 Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka * Image Credit & Copyright: Aygen Erkaslan Explanation: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka are the bright bluish stars from east to west (upper right to lower left) along the diagonal in this cosmic vista. Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion, these three blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun. They lie from 700 to 2,000 light-years away, born of Orion's well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust adrift in this region have some surprisingly familiar shapes, including the dark Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula near Alnitak at the upper right. The famous Orion Nebula itself is off the right edge of this colorful starfield. The telescopic frame spans almost 4 degrees on the sky. Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply. NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices; A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
2025 November 20 Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka * Image Credit & Copyright: Aygen Erkaslan Explanation: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka are the bright bluish stars from east to west (upper right to lower left) along the diagonal in this cosmic vista. Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion, these three blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun. They lie from 700 to 2,000 light-years away, born of Orion's well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust adrift in this region have some surprisingly familiar shapes, including the dark Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula near Alnitak at the upper right. The famous Orion Nebula itself is off the right edge of this colorful starfield. The telescopic frame spans almost 4 degrees on the sky. Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply. NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices; A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
2025 November 20 Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka * Image Credit & Copyright: Aygen Erkaslan Explanation: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka are the bright bluish stars from east to west (upper right to lower left) along the diagonal in this cosmic vista. Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion, these three blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun. They lie from 700 to 2,000 light-years away, born of Orion's well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust adrift in this region have some surprisingly familiar shapes, including the dark Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula near Alnitak at the upper right. The famous Orion Nebula itself is off the right edge of this colorful starfield. The telescopic frame spans almost 4 degrees on the sky. Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply. NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices; A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
nullagent boosted
Jason Baluyut
@bluejay@ohai.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 days ago
Starless image of “God’s Hand” (the stars were extracted using the program Starnet). Only the smoky, hazy shapes of the luminous gas clouds, as well as the glow of the distant spiral galaxy, appear against the darkness. The effect is painterly and surreal.
Starless image of “God’s Hand” (the stars were extracted using the program Starnet). Only the smoky, hazy shapes of the luminous gas clouds, as well as the glow of the distant spiral galaxy, appear against the darkness. The effect is painterly and surreal.
Starless image of “God’s Hand” (the stars were extracted using the program Starnet). Only the smoky, hazy shapes of the luminous gas clouds, as well as the glow of the distant spiral galaxy, appear against the darkness. The effect is painterly and surreal.
Image of the star-forming region CG 4 (“God’s Hand”) — 1,300 light years away — which appears as a hand on an outstretched arm (or perhaps an open-mouthed creature with a long neck) extending from a luminous gas cloud in hues of pink and purple, in a field of hazy gases and multicolored stars. The “hand” or “mouth” appears to reach out to seize or devour a small spiral galaxy — ESO 257-19, which in reality is over 100 million light years further away. (H/t Wikipedia) Data taken from the Amateur Astronomers Association’s Gateway Remote Telescope. Processed and edited by me using Siril, Starnet, and GIMP, with final edits in Snapseed.
Image of the star-forming region CG 4 (“God’s Hand”) — 1,300 light years away — which appears as a hand on an outstretched arm (or perhaps an open-mouthed creature with a long neck) extending from a luminous gas cloud in hues of pink and purple, in a field of hazy gases and multicolored stars. The “hand” or “mouth” appears to reach out to seize or devour a small spiral galaxy — ESO 257-19, which in reality is over 100 million light years further away. (H/t Wikipedia) Data taken from the Amateur Astronomers Association’s Gateway Remote Telescope. Processed and edited by me using Siril, Starnet, and GIMP, with final edits in Snapseed.
Image of the star-forming region CG 4 (“God’s Hand”) — 1,300 light years away — which appears as a hand on an outstretched arm (or perhaps an open-mouthed creature with a long neck) extending from a luminous gas cloud in hues of pink and purple, in a field of hazy gases and multicolored stars. The “hand” or “mouth” appears to reach out to seize or devour a small spiral galaxy — ESO 257-19, which in reality is over 100 million light years further away. (H/t Wikipedia) Data taken from the Amateur Astronomers Association’s Gateway Remote Telescope. Processed and edited by me using Siril, Starnet, and GIMP, with final edits in Snapseed.
Julio J. boosted
Santiago
@santiago@mastodon.uy  ·  activity timestamp 3 days ago
grobi
@grobi@defcon.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 days ago
Annotated Hi-Res image for previews post. The featured image shows a dark nebula complex involving thick dust appearing brown and making a big Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas * Image Credit & Copyright: Xinran Li & Houbo Zhou Explanation: Sometimes the dark dust of interstellar space has an angular elegance. Such is the case toward the far-south constellation of Chamaeleon. Normally too faint to see, dark dust is best known for blocking visible light from stars and galaxies behind it. In this 11.4-hour exposure, however, the dust is seen mostly in light of its own, with its strong red and near-infrared colors creating a brown hue. Contrastingly blue, a bright star Beta Chamaeleontis is visible on the upper right of the V, with the dust that surrounds it preferentially reflecting blue light from its primarily blue-white color. All of the pictured stars and dust occur in our own Milky Way Galaxy with one notable exception: a white spot just below Beta Chamaeleontis is the galaxy IC 3104 which lies far in the distance. Interstellar dust is mostly created in the cool atmospheres of giant stars and dispersed into space by stellar light, stellar winds, and stellar explosions such as supernovas.
Annotated Hi-Res image for previews post. The featured image shows a dark nebula complex involving thick dust appearing brown and making a big Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas * Image Credit & Copyright: Xinran Li & Houbo Zhou Explanation: Sometimes the dark dust of interstellar space has an angular elegance. Such is the case toward the far-south constellation of Chamaeleon. Normally too faint to see, dark dust is best known for blocking visible light from stars and galaxies behind it. In this 11.4-hour exposure, however, the dust is seen mostly in light of its own, with its strong red and near-infrared colors creating a brown hue. Contrastingly blue, a bright star Beta Chamaeleontis is visible on the upper right of the V, with the dust that surrounds it preferentially reflecting blue light from its primarily blue-white color. All of the pictured stars and dust occur in our own Milky Way Galaxy with one notable exception: a white spot just below Beta Chamaeleontis is the galaxy IC 3104 which lies far in the distance. Interstellar dust is mostly created in the cool atmospheres of giant stars and dispersed into space by stellar light, stellar winds, and stellar explosions such as supernovas.
Annotated Hi-Res image for previews post. The featured image shows a dark nebula complex involving thick dust appearing brown and making a big Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas * Image Credit & Copyright: Xinran Li & Houbo Zhou Explanation: Sometimes the dark dust of interstellar space has an angular elegance. Such is the case toward the far-south constellation of Chamaeleon. Normally too faint to see, dark dust is best known for blocking visible light from stars and galaxies behind it. In this 11.4-hour exposure, however, the dust is seen mostly in light of its own, with its strong red and near-infrared colors creating a brown hue. Contrastingly blue, a bright star Beta Chamaeleontis is visible on the upper right of the V, with the dust that surrounds it preferentially reflecting blue light from its primarily blue-white color. All of the pictured stars and dust occur in our own Milky Way Galaxy with one notable exception: a white spot just below Beta Chamaeleontis is the galaxy IC 3104 which lies far in the distance. Interstellar dust is mostly created in the cool atmospheres of giant stars and dispersed into space by stellar light, stellar winds, and stellar explosions such as supernovas.
grobi
@grobi@defcon.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 days ago
2025 November 19 The featured image shows a dark nebula complex involving thick dust appearing brown and making a big Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas * Image Credit & Copyright: Xinran Li & Houbo Zhou Explanation: Sometimes the dark dust of interstellar space has an angular elegance. Such is the case toward the far-south constellation of Chamaeleon. Normally too faint to see, dark dust is best known for blocking visible light from stars and galaxies behind it. In this 11.4-hour exposure, however, the dust is seen mostly in light of its own, with its strong red and near-infrared colors creating a brown hue. Contrastingly blue, a bright star Beta Chamaeleontis is visible on the upper right of the V, with the dust that surrounds it preferentially reflecting blue light from its primarily blue-white color. All of the pictured stars and dust occur in our own Milky Way Galaxy with one notable exception: a white spot just below Beta Chamaeleontis is the galaxy IC 3104 which lies far in the distance. Interstellar dust is mostly created in the cool atmospheres of giant stars and dispersed into space by stellar light, stellar winds, and stellar explosions such as supernovas. Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply. NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices; A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
2025 November 19 The featured image shows a dark nebula complex involving thick dust appearing brown and making a big Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas * Image Credit & Copyright: Xinran Li & Houbo Zhou Explanation: Sometimes the dark dust of interstellar space has an angular elegance. Such is the case toward the far-south constellation of Chamaeleon. Normally too faint to see, dark dust is best known for blocking visible light from stars and galaxies behind it. In this 11.4-hour exposure, however, the dust is seen mostly in light of its own, with its strong red and near-infrared colors creating a brown hue. Contrastingly blue, a bright star Beta Chamaeleontis is visible on the upper right of the V, with the dust that surrounds it preferentially reflecting blue light from its primarily blue-white color. All of the pictured stars and dust occur in our own Milky Way Galaxy with one notable exception: a white spot just below Beta Chamaeleontis is the galaxy IC 3104 which lies far in the distance. Interstellar dust is mostly created in the cool atmospheres of giant stars and dispersed into space by stellar light, stellar winds, and stellar explosions such as supernovas. Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply. NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices; A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
2025 November 19 The featured image shows a dark nebula complex involving thick dust appearing brown and making a big Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas * Image Credit & Copyright: Xinran Li & Houbo Zhou Explanation: Sometimes the dark dust of interstellar space has an angular elegance. Such is the case toward the far-south constellation of Chamaeleon. Normally too faint to see, dark dust is best known for blocking visible light from stars and galaxies behind it. In this 11.4-hour exposure, however, the dust is seen mostly in light of its own, with its strong red and near-infrared colors creating a brown hue. Contrastingly blue, a bright star Beta Chamaeleontis is visible on the upper right of the V, with the dust that surrounds it preferentially reflecting blue light from its primarily blue-white color. All of the pictured stars and dust occur in our own Milky Way Galaxy with one notable exception: a white spot just below Beta Chamaeleontis is the galaxy IC 3104 which lies far in the distance. Interstellar dust is mostly created in the cool atmospheres of giant stars and dispersed into space by stellar light, stellar winds, and stellar explosions such as supernovas. Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply. NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices; A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
Jason Baluyut
@bluejay@ohai.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 days ago
Starless image of “God’s Hand” (the stars were extracted using the program Starnet). Only the smoky, hazy shapes of the luminous gas clouds, as well as the glow of the distant spiral galaxy, appear against the darkness. The effect is painterly and surreal.
Starless image of “God’s Hand” (the stars were extracted using the program Starnet). Only the smoky, hazy shapes of the luminous gas clouds, as well as the glow of the distant spiral galaxy, appear against the darkness. The effect is painterly and surreal.
Starless image of “God’s Hand” (the stars were extracted using the program Starnet). Only the smoky, hazy shapes of the luminous gas clouds, as well as the glow of the distant spiral galaxy, appear against the darkness. The effect is painterly and surreal.
Image of the star-forming region CG 4 (“God’s Hand”) — 1,300 light years away — which appears as a hand on an outstretched arm (or perhaps an open-mouthed creature with a long neck) extending from a luminous gas cloud in hues of pink and purple, in a field of hazy gases and multicolored stars. The “hand” or “mouth” appears to reach out to seize or devour a small spiral galaxy — ESO 257-19, which in reality is over 100 million light years further away. (H/t Wikipedia) Data taken from the Amateur Astronomers Association’s Gateway Remote Telescope. Processed and edited by me using Siril, Starnet, and GIMP, with final edits in Snapseed.
Image of the star-forming region CG 4 (“God’s Hand”) — 1,300 light years away — which appears as a hand on an outstretched arm (or perhaps an open-mouthed creature with a long neck) extending from a luminous gas cloud in hues of pink and purple, in a field of hazy gases and multicolored stars. The “hand” or “mouth” appears to reach out to seize or devour a small spiral galaxy — ESO 257-19, which in reality is over 100 million light years further away. (H/t Wikipedia) Data taken from the Amateur Astronomers Association’s Gateway Remote Telescope. Processed and edited by me using Siril, Starnet, and GIMP, with final edits in Snapseed.
Image of the star-forming region CG 4 (“God’s Hand”) — 1,300 light years away — which appears as a hand on an outstretched arm (or perhaps an open-mouthed creature with a long neck) extending from a luminous gas cloud in hues of pink and purple, in a field of hazy gases and multicolored stars. The “hand” or “mouth” appears to reach out to seize or devour a small spiral galaxy — ESO 257-19, which in reality is over 100 million light years further away. (H/t Wikipedia) Data taken from the Amateur Astronomers Association’s Gateway Remote Telescope. Processed and edited by me using Siril, Starnet, and GIMP, with final edits in Snapseed.
Marc
@corpsmoderne@mamot.fr  ·  activity timestamp 3 days ago
Santiago
@santiago@mastodon.uy  ·  activity timestamp 3 days ago
earthling
@appassionato@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp 5 days ago
Picturavis
@Picturavis@pixelfed.de  ·  activity timestamp 5 days ago
The same section of the Milky Way with detailed inserts of four regions. The first region contains the Elephant's Trunk Nebula, which is barely visible as a dark line. The Pyramid Cluster is a star cluster that, well, looks like a pyramid. In the center of the image is a very red area where the North America Nebula, the Pelican Nebula, and the dark Gulf of Mexico Nebula are located. The Sadr Region, also with red nebulae, is highlighted as well.
The same section of the Milky Way with detailed inserts of four regions. The first region contains the Elephant's Trunk Nebula, which is barely visible as a dark line. The Pyramid Cluster is a star cluster that, well, looks like a pyramid. In the center of the image is a very red area where the North America Nebula, the Pelican Nebula, and the dark Gulf of Mexico Nebula are located. The Sadr Region, also with red nebulae, is highlighted as well.
The same section of the Milky Way with detailed inserts of four regions. The first region contains the Elephant's Trunk Nebula, which is barely visible as a dark line. The Pyramid Cluster is a star cluster that, well, looks like a pyramid. In the center of the image is a very red area where the North America Nebula, the Pelican Nebula, and the dark Gulf of Mexico Nebula are located. The Sadr Region, also with red nebulae, is highlighted as well.
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