APOD

Astronomy Picture of the Day

APOD — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 13:48:11 GMT

Astronomy Picture of the Day

07 June 2023

M94: A Double Ring Galaxy

Image Credit & Copyright: Brian Brennan

Most galaxies don't have any rings of stars and gas -- why does M94 have two? First, spiral galaxy M94 has an inner ring of newly formed stars surrounding its nucleus, giving it not only an unusual appearance but also a strong interior glow. A leading origin hypothesis holds that an elongated knot of stars known as a bar rotates in M94 and has generated a burst of star formation in this inner ring. Observations have also revealed another ring, an outer ring, one that is more faint, different in color, not closed, and relatively complex. What caused this outer ring is currently unknown. M94, pictured here, spans about 45,000 light years in total, lies about 15 million light years away, and can be seen with a small telescope toward the constellation of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici).

#APOD #galaxy #Universe #spaceRing #curiosity

Posted manually due to troubles at NASA APOD API (503)

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230607.html

Astronomy Picture of the Day

APOD — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 15:31:50 GMT

Astronomy Picture of the Day

06 June 2023

Star Eats Planet
Illustrative Video

https://youtu.be/SmuG7odUe9c

Credit: K. Miller & R. Hurt (Caltech, IPAC)

It’s the end of a world as we know it. Specifically, the Sun-like star ZTF SLRN-2020 was seen eating one of its own planets. Although many a planet eventually dies by spiraling into their central star, the 2020 event, involving a Jupiter-like planet, was the first time it was seen directly. The star ZTF SLRN-2020 lies about 12,000 light years from the Sun toward the constellation of the Eagle (Aquila). In the featured animated illustration of the incident, the gas planet's atmosphere is first pictured being stripped away as it skims along the outskirts of the attracting star. Some of the planet's gas is absorbed into the star's atmosphere, while other gas is expelled into space. By the video's end, the planet is completely engulfed and falls into the star's center, causing the star's outer atmosphere to briefly expand, heat up, and brighten. One day, about eight billion years from now, planet Earth may spiral into our Sun.

#APOD #star #Universe #planet #spacechaos

Posted manually due to troubles at NASA API (503)

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230606.html

Astronomy Picture of the Day

APOD — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 15:23:27 GMT

Astronomy Picture of the Day

05 June 2023

In the Center of the Trifid Nebula

Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh

What's happening at the center of the Trifid Nebula? Three prominent dust lanes that give the Trifid its name all come together. Mountains of opaque dust appear near the bottom, while other dark filaments of dust are visible threaded throughout the nebula. A single massive star visible near the center causes much of the Trifid's glow. The Trifid, cataloged as M20, is only about 300,000 years old, making it among the youngest emission nebulas known. The star forming nebula lies about 9,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Archer (Sagittarius). The region pictured here spans about 20 light years.

#APOD #Science #Universe #Astrogeek #Nebula

Posted manually due to troubles at NASA API (503)

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230605.html