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Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Zeta Oph: Runaway Star
NASA ^ | December 29, 2012 | (see photo credit)

Posted on 12/29/2012 7:53:42 AM PST by SunkenCiv

Explanation: Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star Zeta Ophiuchi produces the arcing interstellar bow wave or bow shock seen in this stunning infrared portrait. In the false-color view, bluish Zeta Oph, a star about 20 times more massive than the Sun, lies near the center of the frame, moving toward the left at 24 kilometers per second. Its strong stellar wind precedes it, compressing and heating the dusty interstellar material and shaping the curved shock front. Around it are clouds of relatively undisturbed material. What set this star in motion? Zeta Oph was likely once a member of a binary star system, its companion star was more massive and hence shorter lived. When the companion exploded as a supernova catastrophically losing mass, Zeta Oph was flung out of the system. About 460 light-years away, Zeta Oph is 65,000 times more luminous than the Sun and would be one of the brighter stars in the sky if it weren't surrounded by obscuring dust. The image spans about 1.5 degrees or 12 light-years at the estimated distance of Zeta Ophiuchi.

December 29, 2012

(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; catastrophism; science; zetaoph; zetaophiuchi
[Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope]

1 posted on 12/29/2012 7:53:56 AM PST by SunkenCiv
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To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; married21; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; ...

Whoa.

2 posted on 12/29/2012 7:55:06 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: 75thOVI; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; Avoiding_Sulla; ...
Zeta Oph[iuchi] was likely once a member of a binary star system, its companion star was more massive and hence shorter lived. When the companion exploded as a supernova catastrophically losing mass, Zeta Oph was flung out of the system.



3 posted on 12/29/2012 7:58:01 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: 75thOVI; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; Avoiding_Sulla; ...
Zeta Oph[iuchi] was likely once a member of a binary star system, its companion star was more massive and hence shorter lived. When the companion exploded as a supernova catastrophically losing mass, Zeta Oph was flung out of the system.



4 posted on 12/29/2012 7:58:51 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Cool pic today.


5 posted on 12/29/2012 8:20:50 AM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: cripplecreek

If you ignore the bright stars....... it looks like an alien head... the neck at the bottom right, a large head, and mouth,eyes,nose, and pointed chin...
Anyone else see this ???

Or

Have I drank too much coffee this morning ?????


6 posted on 12/29/2012 9:08:00 AM PST by Robe (Rome did not create a great empire by talking, they did it by killing all those who opposed them)
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To: SunkenCiv
Amazing picture today!!

I'm not sure what the 24 Km / sec has to do with it. . . . the Earth is orbiting the Sun at that speed, if not even greater.

Circumference (of a circle) = 2 X Pi X D. So if the earth has a circular orbit around the sun (it doesn't, but it's pretty close) then the equation above implies that the earth travels 2 X 3.1415 X 93,000,000 miles in a one year orbit of the sun.

Which is 584,336,233 miles

Divide that number by 365 (days) and then each DAY the earth travels 1,600,921 miles.

Divide again by 24 this time - each HOUR the earth travels 66,705 miles. (Can you feel the speed? Just sitting "still" at your computer and reading this post, you're traveling 66,705 MPH !!)

Divide by 60 - you and the earth are travelling 1,111 miles per MINUTE.

One last time - divide by 60 again - brings us to 18.5 miles per SECOND.

That is MORE than 24 Km / second. And you have taken this ride at 18.5 miles per second since you were born.

Anyone know how fast the sun is traveling around the circumference of the galaxy?

Anyone know how fast our galaxy is falling toward Andromeda?

Anyone know how fast our Local Group if galaxies is falling towards the Great Attractor?

One thing for sure - we are all moving much, MUCH faster than we think we are.

7 posted on 12/29/2012 9:22:44 AM PST by willgolfforfood
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To: willgolfforfood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIy76M-4txo

The Universe Song ... Monty Python... Eric Idle


8 posted on 12/29/2012 9:30:37 AM PST by theDentist (FUBO; qwerty ergo typo : i type, therefore i misspelll)
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To: Robe

I see a naked women with her arms in air like a good morning stretch


9 posted on 12/29/2012 9:51:25 AM PST by al baby (Hi Mom)
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To: SunkenCiv
The mote

The Mote...

10 posted on 12/29/2012 9:55:43 AM PST by null and void (Socialism: Equal parts dumb and evil, in a blender.)
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To: willgolfforfood
Circumference of a circle is 2πr, not 2π d. Your result is still correct because what you re calling D is actually the radius.

A handy thing to know for these kinds of calculations is that the approximate number of seconds in one year is π x 107. [This is correct to a relative error of 4 parts per 1000, or about a day and a half.]

So the linear velocity is 9.3 x 107 x 2 x π/(π x 107) mi/s. Cancelling π and 107 this makes your calculation 9.3 x 2 mi/s, which even today's students can do in their heads.

11 posted on 12/29/2012 10:13:51 AM PST by FredZarguna (Thanks Dr. Eastman' wherever you are...)
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To: willgolfforfood

Thanks willgolfforfood!


12 posted on 12/29/2012 10:33:33 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: al baby; Robe
I see a naked woman...

I saw that too, or is it Alfred Hitchcock?

13 posted on 12/29/2012 12:57:33 PM PST by stayathomemom (Beware of kittens modifying your posts.)
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To: SunkenCiv

OMGoodness! First I saw the alien, and then the naked woman, more like a pole dancer. Oh, to be that supple again... Sigh...

Still and all, it’s a great picture, Mr. Civilizations.


14 posted on 12/29/2012 2:57:36 PM PST by TheOldLady
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To: SunkenCiv

Have these cosmologists even asked HOW there could be a “bow wave” preceding this star??? The Electric Universe Cosmologists can tell them.


15 posted on 12/29/2012 6:19:49 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: null and void
The mote

The Mote...

Re Mote


16 posted on 12/29/2012 7:29:16 PM PST by bigheadfred (ashes to ashes)
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To: null and void

it had a tiny mote


17 posted on 12/29/2012 7:33:56 PM PST by Libertarian4Bush (if you voted for obama, I have no respect for you. you're either a loser or a sucker. sorry!)
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To: cripplecreek; blam; SunkenCiv; no-to-illegals; All

A seriously awesome picture. The spread from one end of the plume to the other is 12 light years. The nearest star to our solar system is about 4 light years away. Gives an idea of just how huge this is.


18 posted on 01/01/2013 12:34:08 PM PST by gleeaikin
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To: SunkenCiv; gleeaikin

Thank you both. Awesome information in this thread.


19 posted on 01/02/2013 6:11:59 AM PST by no-to-illegals (Please God, Protect and Bless Our Men and Women in Uniform with Victory. Amen.)
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To: Swordmaker; gleeaikin; TheOldLady; no-to-illegals

Thanks!


20 posted on 01/02/2013 7:14:29 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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