Starship Asterisk*

The Dark Tower in Scorpius

Explanation: In silhouette against a crowded star field toward the constellation Scorpius, this dusty cosmic cloud evokes for some the image of an ominous dark tower. In fact, clumps of dust and molecular gas collapsing to form stars may well lurk within the dark nebula, a structure that spans almost 40 light-years across this gorgeous telescopic portrait. Known as a cometary globule, the swept-back cloud, extending from the lower right to the head (top of the tower) left and above center, is shaped by intense ultraviolet radiation from the OB association of very hot stars in NGC 6231, off the upper edge of the scene. That energetic ultraviolet light also powers the globule's bordering reddish glow of hydrogen gas. Hot stars embedded in the dust can be seen as bluish reflection nebulae. This dark tower, NGC 6231, and associated nebulae are about 5,000 light-years away.

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Ooh, what a beautiful image, Don! Well done!

-Noel

Child Rowland to the dark tower came,
His word was still 'Fie, foh, and fum
I smell the blood of a British man.

• King Lear, Act 3, scene 4

Childe Rowland
English Fairy Tail

----------------------------­-----------------

• ____ King Lear > Act III, scene IV
  .
  EDGAR: Child Rowland to the dark tower came,
  ___ His word was still,--Fie, foh, and fum,
  ___ I smell the blood of a British man.

-----------------------------------------------

• <<"Childe Rowland (or Roland) is a hero of an old Scottish ballad.
  (The word "child" is used here with the force of a title. It is applied
  to a youth of good birth who has not yet attained knighthood.)
  From such references as are preserved, it would seem that the ballad
  tells of a young lad, guided by Merlin, seeking in Elf-land his kidnapped
  sister and gaining her through great peril. The actual ballad is lost and
  "Poor Tom"/Edgar may here be reciting the first line. If so, it's the
  only line that still exists. (Robert Browning wrote a Gothic poem
  entitled "Child Roland to the Dark Tower Came" inspired by this line
  in King Lear, but this poem has no connection with the old ballad.)
  From the heroic old ballad, "poor Tom" passes to the stock exclamation
  attributed to villainous giants on the track of a hiding hero.>>
  .
  -- p.36, Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare Part II.

----------------------------------------------------------

This Child Roland also hastened to the Dark Tower

Hi,
I did not read the link to "OB association", sorry. Has it something in common with "Oh, Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me Right Now!" or in short: "OBAFGKMRN"? I remember that I read this some 25 years ago. Is OB meanwhile a new classification of stars (sth. between O and B)?

petsie wrote:Hi,
I did not read the link to "OB association", sorry. Has it something in common with "Oh, Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me Right Now!" or in short: "OBAFGKMRN"? I remember that I read this some 25 years ago. Is OB meanwhile a new classification of stars (sth. between O and B)?

It means O stars and B stars. In other words, it means the two hottest, brightest and most massive types of stars. An OB association always contains several B-type stars, and often it contains at least one O-type star, too. I'm not sure if O stars are absolutely required. But if there are not O-type stars present, there should at least be several stars of early class B (B0, B1, B2 and B3).

Ann

Lovely image, deserved selection.
Congratulations amigo Don!!!
Greetings
César

Indeed, great image. This is a very fascinating structure. It is really interesting to see how the top of the structure seems to consist of several layers with the same general outline. It is like watching a cosmic structure wearing clothes.

I like how blue stars seem to cluster around a part of this dark tower, as if the blue stars were born there. Maybe they were, too.

Ann

Does anyone know the significance of the planets aligning on this date, April 27th, 2011?

Coincidence?