Posted on 02/25/2015 5:25:27 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Explanation: The Rosette Nebula is not the only cosmic cloud of gas and dust to evoke the imagery of flowers -- but it is the most famous. At the edge of a large molecular cloud in Monoceros, some 5,000 light years away, the petals of this rose are actually a stellar nursery whose lovely, symmetric shape is sculpted by the winds and radiation from its central cluster of hot young stars. The stars in the energetic cluster, cataloged as NGC 2244, are only a few million years old, while the central cavity in the Rosette Nebula, cataloged as NGC 2237, is about 50 light-years in diameter. The nebula can be seen firsthand with a small telescope toward the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros).
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[Credit and Copyright: Arno Rottal (Far-Light-Photography)]
It looks like Patrick from Sponge Bob (The starfish guy!)
Oooohhhh, pretty. It does look like a flower! Thanks, Sunky!
“The constellation of the unicorn”
I have my own constellation? I’m humbled and honored. Can you sell something like that? I mean, roughly, what does something like that go for? Are we talking “Afford a new Ferrari”, or “Worth less than a used post-it note”?
Oh, I’ve always dreamed of having my own little constellation. A white picket fence out front and Marie Osmond looking out the window for me. Actually, I’ve had a lot of dreams about Marie Osmond. Some might call them “fantasies”. She smiled at me once at one of her concerts. I wonder if she likes men who have constellations? I digress.....again.
I think my constellation is rather attractive. It has that flaming eye of Sauron thing, but overall, it’s pretty nice. Put in a nice front door, and you got yourself some real curb appeal. Or in this case, space appeal.
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