Great X-Ray, Infrared, and Visible Light Composite

I grabbed this picture off of this week's SPACE PHOTOS from National Geographic. I think this is an absolutely gorgeous composite of the an irregular galaxy 210,000 light years away. I swear, sometimes astrophotos borderline on art!

Identify Never-Before-Seen Galaxies

GalaxyZoo is probably not new news, but it is to me. If you create account, you will make a significant scientific contribution by classifying new galaxies, many of which have never been seen before!

Trust me it's as easy as it sounds. Turn in your name and you'll even be credited! Try to determine spiral, elliptical, and merging galaxies from fuzzy original photos. The computer program can pick out the galaxies, but the human eye is the only thing that can classify them.

Easy as it sounds, labelling can be tricky. They are awfully fuzzy, and sometimes you have to identify photographs from a bad angle.

Got some down time? Let's classify some galaxies!

P.S. The GalaxyZoo blog will be on the blogroll from now on too! Check it out!

Deadly Dance of Two Galaxies

Yesterday, the Hubble telescope spotted two intertwining galaxies and produced this stunning image:

The pair of galaxies are gliding past each other, and literally through each other, and the effects of gravity are evident. Even in the spiral arms, which appear as "fuzz", there are many millions of stars and even though they pass through the galaxy together, stars won't likely collide, though orbits will likely be altered.

Deep Sky Objects Viewable with Binoculars

For today's deep space object post we'll be checking out a few deep sky objects that are visible this time of year to the amateur using binoculars! That's right, there are a number of deep sky targets that can be seen, albeit not in the vibrant, colorful flare that the best astrophotos exhibit. Below is a list of must-see objects that the amateur can see even before buying their first scope:

Andromeda Galaxy - This vibrant galaxy in the Andromeda constellation is the most well-known galaxy among amateur astronomers. You won't see the full visual prowess of this galaxy, like the dust lanes seen in photos, but you will see the Andromeda Core, the bright center of the galaxy surrounded by some fuzzy nebulosity. Don't expect the full glory of this galaxy and it won't disappoint.

Orion Nebula (M42) - The most famous of all nebula and a favorite among amateur astronomers is Messier's 42nd, the Orion Nebula. Simply aim your binoculars at Orion's "sword" (three visible stars perpendicular to Orion's "belt") and the binoculars will likely show a bit of nebulosity on a dark night (and away from light pollution).

The Pleiades (M45) - The Seven Sisters, or the Pleiades, is an open cluster of stars easily visible to the naked-eye, even under less than optimal conditions. Photographs often show dust clouds surrounding each star, but the binoculars likely won't bring this into view (under normal conditions). What you will see is the fiery blue beauty of a hot, young star "incubator". The view through binoculars, even without the dust clouds visible, is breath-taking.

The Hyades - This open cluster was observed, but never placed in Charles Messier's famous catalog. It has been known since ancient times, and makes a perfect "V" in the sky. This is the closest open cluster to Earth at a mere 151 light years away.

Locating these objects is easy. Visit the Sky View Cafe or Sky Maps and print a map. Or if you like, you can even check Stellarium software to see where it is relative to you real-time.

Look forward to more "Visible with Binoculars" posts in the future. Good luck to you!

The Last Survivor of a Cosmic Clash

Hubble telescope's most recent addition to its list of already impressive cosmic phenomena is disocvery of a quasar, MC2 1635+11.9, surrounded by the "shells" of stars. It resides in the MC2 1635+119, the host galaxy.

Researchers are suggesting that these star remnants are the casualties of a cosmic collision between two galaxies. This supports current views that many quasars are formed between galactic collisions.

Quasars are some of the brightest objects in the universe and exist in the centers of galaxies and are fueled by blackholes.

Aging Galaxy Is "Unique" Researchers Say

I Zwiky 18 looks like a typically young galaxy. However, the more researchers research this particular object, the older it appears to get.

Researchers have now located faint, older stars in the center of the galaxy that have proven researchers wrong... twice. The older stars show that initial estimates of its distance were off by more than ten million light years by measuring the light from these older stars.

It also proved researchers wrong because it showed that the galaxy is quite a bit older than initially thought. By dating the fainter, older stars, we find out that this galaxy formed at the same time other galaxies formed. However, the appearance of the galaxy is that of a younger universe.

The main components of this galaxy are hydrogen and helium, which suggests it was around near the beginning of time after the Big Bang. However, the reason that this galaxy still produces far less stars than its peers still eludes researchers.

"...it is certainly developmentally challenged and unique in the nearby universe," said astronomer Alessandra Aloisi from the Space Telescope Science Institute and the European Space Agency, who led the study.

New Galaxy Has Comet-Like Tail

A newly discovered galaxy has a dust trail more than 220,000 light years long.

The dust is planting the "seeds" of new stars.

Ming Sun of Michigan State University, who led the study says, "..it turns out that this is a giant wake of creation, not of destruction." Millions of stars have already been, or are in the process of being, born.

The galaxy, ESO 137-001 , is more than 220 million light years away and is headed towards a cluster of galaxies called Abell 3627.