Astronomy Picture of the Day

NASA ^ | 10/19/08 | A. Caulet, ESA, NASA

[sig226]

In the Center of the Lagoon Nebula
Credit: A. Caulet (ST-ECF, ESA), NASA

Explanation: The center of the Lagoon Nebula is a whirlwind of spectacular star formation. Visible on the upper left, at least two long funnel-shaped clouds, each roughly half a light-year long, have been formed by extreme stellar winds and intense energetic starlight. The tremendously bright nearby star, Hershel 36, lights the area. Vast walls of dust hide and redden other hot young stars. As energy from these stars pours into the cool dust and gas, large temperature differences in adjoining regions can be created generating shearing winds which may cause the funnels. This picture, spanning about 5 light years, was taken in 1995 by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. The Lagoon Nebula, also known as M8, lies about 5000 light years distant toward the constellation of Sagittarius.

[sig226]

[Dustbunny]

Thanks for posting, the pic is now my new desktop wallpaper.

[Reaganesque]

The mid-day sky in Los Angeles...

[afortiori]

That's a lot of stuff floating in a lot of space, yet highly concentrated compared with most of the universe.

[LonePalm]

Sweetie Ping!

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Grammy]

My desktop wallpaper regularly changes to one of these pictures. I send them to Mr G and Junior G, and they put them in a folder on their macs, which then circulate through them as screen savers. That is almost enough to make me want a mac!

Thanks sig226