In this image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope, light from blue stars irradiates the gas left over from those stars’ recent formation in the emission nebula, LHA 120-N55. The abundant hydrogen atom glow red.
Image Credit: ESO
This infrared view (click the image to embiggen it) made by the Herschel Space Observatory of Cygnus X spans some 6×2 degrees of one of the closest, massive star forming regions in the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. The rich stellar nursery already holds the massive star cluster known as the Cygnus OB2 association. Those stars are more evident by the region cleared by their energetic winds and radiation near the bottom center of the picture. They can’t be detected by Herschel instruments operating at long infrared wavelengths, but Herschel does reveal the region’s complex filaments of cool gas and dust around the locations where new massive stars are forming. Cygnus X lies some 4500 light-years away toward the heart of the northern constellation of the Swan. This picture covers a view about 500 light-years wide.
Image Credit: ESA
Stacy McCain and I will be at our mics at 7 pm ET for Episode 12, Season 3 of The Other Podcast.
Give us a call at (646) 668-2541 and join in the fun.
Likely topics include The Last War, The Deep State, The Narrative, and Crazy People Are Dangerous™.
BTW, I learned to type on an all-caps machine, a Teletype Model 15.
This worth posting simply because it’s pretty.
NGC 6814 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in constellation Aquila located about 75 million light years from Earth. It’s a Seyfert galaxy with an extremely bright nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole with roughly 10 millions times the mass of the Sun. The galaxy is also a highly variable source of X-ray radiation. UV and optical emission also vary, although more smoothly, with time lag of two days behind the x-ray output.
Image Credit: ESA / NASA
Governor Larry Hogan has announced the Maryland will begin dialing back Wuhan pandemic restrictions at 5 pm of Friday evening. The Gentle Reader may remember I reported a few days ago that the state’s new case and death rates began to flatten around 23 April. Over the past few days, deaths have shown a noticeable decline.
Hmmm, things are beginning to proceed a bit faster than i had foreseen. I had expected Maryland to wait another week before loosening up.
I am pleased.
We have a couple of particularly nice trees in the front yard here at Stately Hoge Manor, and I’ve posted pictures of them from time to time. The ornamental cherry tree is spectacular when it is blossoming. The Carroll County Times has put pictures of it on the front page twice since we’ve lived here.
There comes a day each spring when the blossoms begin to fall. Over the next couple of days, our front yard is covered with petals, something my son called “pink snow” when he was a toddler. Today’s rain started this year’s pink snow.
