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What a difference a wavelength makes! The camera on NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, transforms the relatively ho-hum star Zeta Ophiuchi into a stunner, wrapped in a colorful, gauzy shawl of interstellar dust. Astronomers theorize that the blue giant was part of a double-star system that broke up when its partner star went supernova. Now Zeta O. is speeding away through a cloud of dust and gas at a speed of 54,000 mph, and creating the yellowish bow shock you see in this picture. The shock wave is similar to the wave that a boat pushes in front of the bow as it speeds through the water. The feature is completely hidden in visible light, but WISE's infrared camera was able to see it through the obscuring dust. If it weren't for all that dust, Zeta O. would be one of the brightest stars in the sky. Find out more from the WISE website.
More infrared wonders:
- NASA shares new views of galaxies
- Andromeda's once and future stars
- Infrared portrait traces life of stars
- Slideshow: Wonders from WISE
Join the Cosmic Log community by clicking the "like" button on our Facebook page or by following msnbc.com science editor Alan Boyle as b0yle on Twitter. To learn more about Alan Boyle's book about Pluto and the search for planets, check out the website for "The Case for Pluto."
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Can't help but think of the hymn...
O Lord my God,
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all
The works Thy Hand hath made,
I see the stars,
I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy pow'r throughout
The universe displayed;
Refrain:
Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art!
How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art!
How great Thou art!
I can't help my nausea after reading that
I'm sorry, but was that really necessary? People are entitled to their beliefs. Freedom of religion, remember? The poster was obviously as awe-struck by the image as I was. Jane chose to see the image and what it represents as the work of God. I personally do not share Jane's belief system, but I would not say or do anything to dissuade her from her beliefs.
Your snarky comment was unwarranted.
That's What's Up: Agreed!
toshola, I only count 18 lines - where's the other 52 lines you saw? Prove that God does not exist.
That's What's Up, is it really so hard to accept that people believe in God? Really, can a person not be inspired by their faith? What inspires you?
scifiwriter, your screen name suggests that this type of image may inspire you to write. I hope your stories are better than the worthless banter you post here.
Nausea is the right word for it. I don't care if you're religeous but keep it to yourself
You know, you don't have to read the comments right? Most of the time you will find something that you disagree with no matter the website. Remember it's freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.
I've been accused of being an Atheist that's just 'redefined god' just because I don't believe in a god as an image of 'some old guy in they sky'.
Actually I'm a Pantheist that believes that God and the Universe are the same thing. Whilst you may not agree with me, I wouldn't knock you down for it.
Its unfortunate that there are so many (here come's Godwin's Law, wait for it...) INTOLERANT NAZIS OUT THERE.
@ Geodude, sorry but your statement of "Remember it's freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. is incorrect, Freedom of Religion also means Freedom from Religion (as in someone doesnt have to follow any religion) BUT it doesnt mean that those that are religious cannot make statements, postings or what have you, that is called Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion (and freedom from having to follow a religion) all go together with freedom of speech.
I just wanted to clarify that.
God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy!
@ Kyrie, Especially Guinness!!!
Thanks once again for sharing Alan. That enhanced photograph is just beautiful and so amazing. I look at images like that with a sense of awe and wonder. I cannot imagine what man will find when he is finally able to leave this solar system to explore the universe.
Once again my tiny monkey brain is incapable of fully understanding or appreciating all that this information reveals but my eyes and my imagination are dazzled by it.
AMEN sister!!!! Isaiah 40:26
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
Psalm 19
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
Stop it, stop it , stop it Please stop the nonsense'
So, uh... which feature of the "bridegroom" is causing the "tent"?
One of my new favorite space pics, thanks.
This religious crap should be banned! If religion had it's way, science would not exist, so we would never get to see pictures like this. Why then does religion have the aduasity to insert itself into science after the fact? It's all BS!
Your lack of tolerance should be banned. If you had your way we'd all be angry little trolls like yourself. Why do you have the audacity to insert your vomitous rhetoric and belittle another's beliefs. You are BS.
It saddens me to be able to view something this amazing and then read a comment like "That's What's Up" posted. Can we not in this complicated world view something as awe inspiring and this and let others express their views without such thoughtless comments?? Freedom of speech is for everyone. If we cannot be better than this, there is no hope for this world!!
Give relgion and the government a few more years. They are trying to remove our freedom of speach. Wait, they have already started to.
Scifiwriter - if you are indeed a writer, check your spelling (there's even a little button at the top of the post window).
Scientific advancement allows us to see the universe around us. Religious advancement does not.
I for one think that comment sections should be banned (hypocritical? Yes) All that we have here yet again is several pushy individuals (and yes I have been dragged down too... d******) who have elected to not use this forum to discuss the subject at hand but instead push their individual philosophies, whether it be scientific or religous. I for one am sick and tired of seeing flamewars and troll-feeding-frenzies in every comment section after every article/video on every site on the internet. And don't bother attacking me. I won't be back to read whatever retort you have to offer. I have better things to do with my time.
Yet you wrote this?????
I realize that I am not going to change those minds that would see science and 'religion' as separate from each other as our earth is from this pictured star, but for me, I see the two blended together perfectly.
The question has been asked by scifiwriter: "Why then does religion have the audacity to insert itself into science after the fact?" (emphasis mine) My faith isn't added on to science, instead believing in Creation, my faith perfectly agrees with Science (not evolution which is a theory). This is possible because God the Creator, created both.
And excellent verses, Sue!
All science is based on theory, and theory is tested results and observations of hypothesis. There is a theory that the Earth goes around the Sun. It's regarded as an acurate theory, based on observation and mathematical models, and no longer a hypothesis.
Hahaha I can't believe I took the time to read all this, but for one I believe in God and science. I believe they are different ideas which can coexist. We can also coexist peacefully. Chill out. By the way, I do see the bird but where's the surfer hair?
Not stupid, the Theory of Relativity is a theory, accepted as fact and used as fact. It has been tested, but is still a theory. People confuse hypothesis and theory. A hypothesis is essentially a "guesstimate" of what might be. A theory has been tested, and seems credible, and is accepted as fact until it is proven otherwise.
Example: Theory, hypothesis are used in non-technical contexts to mean an untested idea or opinion. A theory in technical use is a more or less verified or established explanation accounting for known facts or phenomena. A hypothesis is a conjecture put forth as a possible explanation of phenomena or relations, which serves as a basis of argument or experimentation to reach the truth
Does anybody else see a bird in this shot? The star is the eye. The dust, just above the eye, that appears orange is the head. Then the beak sweeps off to the left, and the body sweeps away right.
No, I see a surfer dude's hair.
Yes, the bird picture is very evident. Looks like a sparrow to me.
Good catch laughingATr&d's
Mind numbing picture. One of those astronomy pictures that is self explanatory.
Makes us look so small and insignificant in the big scheme of things. Can't help but wonder, if this is what most of the universe is made of, what is life doing here?
Every star has a bow shock. Voyager is now encountering our own suns bow shock
Psalm 19 is my favorite and Religion and science have gone hand in hand for millennia. One does not preclude the other. Science should be about an open mind, not closed, but enough on that train of thought.
Very excellent photo, and we are discovering more each and every day. Great time for science! Without trying to sound outlandish, the Hopi Indians spoke about a spiders web encircling the planet ( some say the web) and also talk about a blue star. How many light years away is Zeta O? And which direction is it heading?
Alan..I'll take your word!...But Whatever it is it's a great photo!
It appears that some of these stelar " gases" may have materialized as comments on this blog!
Religion is the opiate of the masses....or the other way around?
Jane- my faith perfectly agrees with Science (not evolution which is a theory)
You're ignorance is showing. Open your eyes and your mind and learn a little before making comments. A theory is the most powerful culmination of facts, observation and testing. Don't be afraid to discard archaic beliefs if they are not supported by any observable evidence.
All religions were founded millenia ago, when people were ignorant to science and how the world around them worked. And so when they saw the sun rise or the leaves stir through some magical mysterious force, they imagined it must be gods doing it. Science alone has lifted the curtain on the darkness in our minds, and allowed us to see the wonders of how nature works. And religious zealots fought and persecuted the scientists all along the way.
nice choice of colors, really illustrates the physics, the speed is unbelievable, no really I don't buy it...still nice picture...if any aspiring space artists want to paint something, this would be a nice one...
Is it absolutely necessary that everything devolve into a freakin' argument?
@scifiwriter : You appear to have some serious deficiencies in the areas of spelling, punctuation, and proofreading. If you can't get those right, I'm forced to question the quality of your thought processes. If you don't respect yourself and your own opinion enough to express yourself in proper English, then...well, I think you can follow that train of logic.
For the rest of you, here's Hawk's Rule: there's no need to invoke Godwin's Law if you don't respond to a troll.
Learn it, live it, love it.
Great pic! It is great that it moves people! Sadly the spiritual movement was also the same movement that stopped scientific endeavors for nearly 2,000 years.
So OK, I've posted comments to this effect previously, so I hope this doesn't sound like I'm being tedious, although it might, but here's goes, once again...
We have here an example of star light being filtered through massive gaseous clouds, possibly the remainder of a supernova explosion in a binary system. If so, then due to the fusion synthesis processes of higher atomic number elements which occur in stars for elements such as oxygen, carbon, silicon, and iron, and at the terminal point, within the exloding supernova itself for even heavier elements such as gold, uranium and the rest, then this cloud should be composed of a higher proportion of such elements than just any other 'common' space dust. This should be detectable by examining the the absorption spectra of the light as it comes though.
If indeed the cloud is comparatively rich in these heavier elements, does this provide any evidence as to the mystery of the "missing mass" which causes galaxies to rotate faster than they should supposedly be able to without flying apart? Instead of invoking "dark matter" to explain the gravitational attraction which holds these galaxies together, could the issue not be a result of first, an underestimation of the total number and also the masses of the stars which are present, due to dimming effects of their visible light as descibed in this very article, and second, could a substantial amount of mass be accounted for in the heavy atoms which might make up portions of such clouds as this?
If there is enough of these heavy elements floating around "out there" in the interstellar space of far off galaxies, in order to later coalesce into planetary systems similar to ours with rocky bodies such as earth, with heavy elements as they exist here, then these elements must exist in similar proportions "out there" as well. Has all of this been taken into account when calculating the estimated mass of these far off galaxies?
As Joni Mitchell sang, "We are stardust, we are golden..."
It just occurred to me that the cloud in the picture could not be the remains of the blue star's possible binary partner. That long gone partner would be in the other direction. D'oh!
But, the question still remains, what is the composition of the gas and dust in this image, both in the yellow "bow shock" area and the more diffuse stuff, shown in blue, and could there be any relation between this type of stuff and the purported 'dark matter', or has all of this already been taken into account and I'm just blowing...
"dust in the wind..."
It is to laugh - Jane posted a religious poem (song?) and folks get all huffy - In this great and wonderful country we can speak, think, read, believe as we as individuals wish. (Unlike so many other countries on this blue marble of a planet) As for the article - It is truly awe inspiring to think that the skies above us are filled with universes - if God exists and we are not the product of an evolutionary accident - I'm good with that. If we are not, I'm good with that too. I am but a single soul trying each day to do unto others, not because of some 'commandment', but because the people I am polite, kind, considerate to, react in a similar manner to me. Law of phyics: every action has a consequence. I would recommend reading the Desiderata - to quote a portion: " Therefoe be at peace with God whatever you conceive him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful, strive to be happy."
I was raised in a very religious family went to church every Sunday, And as i grew older i started to think for my self. I don't think its good for any kind of scripture or religious views to be posted on a topic of science their are other topics more suited for such things. Now i sure you all need to speak his words but please don't try to force that out dated and absurd story of God and how he created us. I've had enough of it growing up listening to pastors trying to explain to me all the crazy stories that are just not true. For insantance Mary and how she got nocked up "Please" that is just plain imposable. It just goes to show you can't count on religion to answer the questions of seicence when its full of statements from men who were obviously very good story tellers. Creation is not fact, Nether is the incestuous over tone of Adam and Eve and there children who just happened to be boys. No way to be fruitful and multiply. So I'm pretty sure the human race would ended before it started. We are all made of star stuff and will eventually travel beyond this system and populate other systems because of science not religion. Maybe you can hire Tom Cruse to be God so your one way relationship will have some sort of meaning.