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NASA / STScI / AURA
A picture from Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, captured in 2006, shows the globular cluster NGC 1846. The inset photo focuses in on the planetary nebula at the edge of the picture. Distant background galaxies can be seen scattered throughout the image.
The latest picture from the Hubble Space Telescope reveals a glittering star cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies, plus a poor little greenish planetary nebula that just went poof.
The hazy cloud of stars is NGC 1846, a globular cluster containing thousands of stars on the outskirts of the dwarf galaxy in the southern celestial hemisphere, about 160,000 light-years from Earth. The Large Magellanic Cloud and its smaller sibling (known as the Small Magellanic Cloud, what else?) are assemblages of stars that have been kicking around the Milky Way's environs for eons.
Aging bright stars shine with bluish and reddish tones, while the middle-aged stars give off white light. The Hubble team says the most intriguing single object in the image isn't any of the thousands of stars that are bursting with life, but the little green puff highlighted in the inset picture. That's the glowing shell of gas created when a dying star puffs away its outer layers. It's not completely clear whether the puffball is part of the cluster, but measurements of the motions of the stars in the cluster and the stellar remnant at the center of the nebula suggest that it is.
Which is more beautiful, the bright lives of the thousands or the deep-toned death of the one? You tell me.
More about planetary nebulae:
- Hubble sights a starry necklace
- Astronomers aim to score cosmic goal
- New clues to amazing space shapes
- Student 'hoots' for Owl Nebula in contest
- Dying star belches up a toxic brew
- Slideshow: Hubble's greatest hits
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. You can also add me to your Google+ circle, and check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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The article says "Aging bright stars shine with bluish and reddish tones, while the middle-aged stars give off white light."
Why would that be? Thanks
Rakesh, stars age in two ways, either they shrink and become blue/white dwarfs, or they expand to become red giants. The mechanics are interesting if you like that kind of thing. The wikipedia articles are good for a basic idea.
The following is culled from a very good article on the matter:
"A star’s color is critical in identifying the star, because it tells us the star’s surface temperature...The sun has a surface temperature of 5,500 K, typical for a yellow star. Red stars are cooler than the sun, with surface temperatures of 3,500 K for a bright red star and 2,500 K for a dark red star. The hottest stars are blue, with their surface temperatures falling anywhere between 10,000 K and 50,000 K
Stars are fuelled by the nuclear fusion reactions at their core.
A star does not stay the same color throughout its lifecycle, since the surface temperature alters depending on the type of fusion reaction fuelling the star at the time."
I didn't want to copy and paste the whole article, but that gives you the gist of it. If you'd like to read the whole thing in depth, just Google "what causes the different colors of stars".
What is more amazing is looking at this photo and not believing there is life out there.
Thanks for "shedding light" on the question. Couldn't have done better myself. This picture took advantage of different color filters that are sensitive to blue, green and infrared light ... and by noting the different wavelengths, astronomers can figure out the chemical characteristics of the stars that are associated with different ages, temperatures, etc.
What i observe every night when I am looking in the sky & i sow the moon & one far star which is the moon is the father god & the star is JESUS CHRIST , by the way here is the message of our father god , king of the universe in the heaven. Be hold & prepare for his comming in the earth , hi will clean the world thru "WATER" , the people in the world are to much "SIN" , most of the people spirit in the wolrd CAN'T ENTER TO MY FATHER GOD KINGDOM" most of this people are the JUDGE,LAWYER,POLITICAL OFFICER'S , POLICE OFFICER'S, TELEVISION & RADIO EMPLOYEE'S, PEOPLE WHO USED THE NAME OF THE FATHER GOD & JESUS CHRIST to collected money to the people are the one CAN'T ENTER TO MY FATHER GOD KINGDOM. remember that. our time is running out & our day is counted. every thing message of my father god , king of the universe in the heaven was already deliverd in earth theu EARTHQUAKE, FLOOD, FIRE, TORNADOS, ETC , people in the world can't understood ? they are all still "BLIND TO THE TRUTH" . How long the people in the world we will open their eyes to the "TRUTH" & have "FAITH & BELIEVE" to my father god , king of the universe in the heaven ? i believe & i sow your all spirit we will find the "truth" WHEN YOUR ALL SPIRIT ARE IN THE KINGDOM OF YOUR GOD "LUCIFER" which is the "WIDE DOOR". good luck to every body when the time is come soon, it is written it should be done according to my father god , king of the universe in the heaven plan.
Simplicio, I've read your posts on other stories. No matter what the story is about you are obsessed with your version of faith. You need help, you also need spellchecker, and an English class wouldn't hurt I'm spellbound by these photos. They were impossible when I was young and the advances are coming so fast as man continues to push the envelope. Fantastic!
?!?!?! Really?!?!?! Also, didnt he promise to not "clean" the world through water again? He already did that once... Thats what rainbows symbolize...
One more thing? So if you become a judge, lawyer, police officer, or radio employee (?) then you can't get into heaven? Really? Last I knew, everyone at least had a chance that is/was/ not diminished because of your job...
Yikes.
Someone needs to take a nice long vacation to a white padded room...
Ohh darn. After I read something like simplicios post I just have to go watch some porn so I can feel clean again.
the wizard of OZ coming back??
satan isnt that bad of a dude at least he is full of what ever you wish you had
Absolutely no value... click!
it appears Simplicio found candy mountain.
Such a shame that these ego-driven self-ordained wannabee's cast such a deep fantasy shadow to the serious study of conscious.
A must-
To say downright gorgeous.
Amidst the endlessness of space, with tear falling from this face - alas - the human race. We are watching our history unfold before our very eyes and do not even recognize the beauty/tragedy of it all. The emotionless moon hangs low, saying nothing at all - as the waves rise and fall and a tide tugs on this broken heart. Alas not all is lost; but all is discovered, amidst the countless hopes and dreams tossed upon one, little star in the corner of the galaxy....another amazing story, Alan....thank you!
When I see these pictures, I can't help but think that we are in our infancy to all that is out there. Sigh, wish I could be around for these advances...it would be an amazing time.
It's part of a star's lifecycle. The author of the article was simplifying it greatly. An introductory course in Astronomy at your local college will fill in most of the detail that is missing.
Bottom line: Stars who are considered "main sequence" stars burn different elements to produce different colored light during different parts of their lifespan. Our yellow sun will someday become a red-giant. There are many other factors involved--most notably, the mass of the star. I'm not really giving much more detail than the author did. As I said, for more detailed information, seek out an introductory Astronomy class at your local college. :)
It is difficult to realize that the stars we are viewing are older than we can imagine and the death of one star that happened so long ago it just now visible to us. It makes you wonder if someone is out there looking at our little planet and trying to imagine if life exists here.
We're too tiny and insignificant for other worlds to see us.
Wally...compared to a photon we're actually quite large...hardly "insignificant".
What an amazing 'Verse we live in!
BTW why is this 'news', the pic is from '06. If NASA is that backlogged, why isn't some of the $ dumped into DARPA moved to NASA to help withe backlog?
Old stars , young stars...it goes on and on
At 160,000 LY's away, that's over 1.5 x's the diameter of our milky way galaxy. Is the planetary poofter material all oxygen due to the exclusively green color? If not, what material comes up green?
I really love these photos!! Trying to explain them to my 4 yr. old grandson is difficult at best, given the immensity of the scope. I love his ideas of trying to get there, though. Unfortunately, he doesn't understand that a jet pack on your back just isn't enough to get you there.