Atronony Picture Of The Day, June 30, 2003

NASA ^ | June 30, 2003 | NASA

[Greeblie]

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2003 June 30

Disappearing Clouds in Carina
Credit: Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), N. Walborn (STScI) & R. Barbß (La Plata Obs.), NASA

Explanation: This dense cloud of gas and dust is being deleted. Likely, within a few million years, the intense light from bright stars will have boiled it away completely. Stars not yet formed in the molecular cloud's interior will then stop growing. The cloud has broken off of part of the greater Carina Nebula, a star forming region about 8000 light years away. Newly formed stars are visible nearby, their images reddened by blue light being preferentially scattered by the pervasive dust. This unusually-colored image spans about two light years and was taken by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope in 1999. This Carina sub-cloud is particularly striking partly because its clear definition stimulates the human imagination (e.g. it could be perceived as a superhero flying through a cloud, arm up, with a saved person in tow below).

[Dog Gone]

Nice shot.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

>>"This explains so much! :)"

Yes, but what is Atronony?

[SGCOS]

8000 light years away

In astronomy, distances are measured in units of light years, where one light year is the distance that light travels in a year—10 trillion kilometers.

Awesome numbers.

[Greeblie]

Yes, but what is Atronony?

My pathetic attempt to speel ;-)

[Conan the Librarian]

How come my astro photography doesn't come out this good :)

[alnitak]

Actually, it looks more like the superhero is carrying the carcass of a skinned ferret. Then again, it could be a skinned rat, I'll give you that.

</rorschach>

[msdrby]

Yep, I saw what you saw.

[bray]

Who cut G-d off on the Universal Freeway???

Pray for GW and the Truth

[longshadow]

niz pic.

Speaking of "seeing things" that aren't really there, I think it was Gordon Cooper, one of the original 7 Mercury astronauts, who turned the tables on the psychologists who were constantly poking and prodding the astronauts. When one of the lab-coat guys showed a Rorchach ink-blob to him and asked "what do you see?" Gordo replied with mock-indignanation: "How should I know; it's upside down!"

[StriperSniper]

Ummmm......forgot to use a Hubble?;-)

[VadeRetro]

Then there's the Rorshach joke that ends with, "I'm obsessed with sex? You're the one with all the filthy pictures!"

[Conan the Librarian]

Got a Meade 416 CCD....I demand the same quality!