APOD: NGC 7714: Starburst after Galaxy... (2024 Mar 17)

[APOD Robot]

NGC 7714: Starburst after Galaxy Collision

Explanation: Is this galaxy jumping through a giant ring of stars? Probably not. Although the precise dynamics behind the featured image is yet unclear, what is clear is that the pictured galaxy, NGC 7714, has been stretched and distorted by a recent collision with a neighboring galaxy. This smaller neighbor, NGC 7715, situated off to the left of the frame, is thought to have charged right through NGC 7714. Observations indicate that the golden ring pictured is composed of millions of older Sun-like stars that are likely co-moving with the interior bluer stars. In contrast, the bright center of NGC 7714 appears to be undergoing a burst of new star formation. The featured image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. NGC 7714 is located about 130 million light years away toward the constellation of the Two Fish (Pisces). The interactions between these galaxies likely started about 150 million years ago and should continue for several hundred million years more, after which a single central galaxy may result.

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[Ann]

Unfortunately, I, the Galaxy Girl, don't have too much to say about today's APOD

NGC 7714: Starburst after Galaxy Collision. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing & Copyright: Rudy Pohl

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Starburst after collision - and I guess that the starbursting part came loose! Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio (STScI)

---

But I do find it fascinating that the starbursting part of NGC 7714 appears to be placed in front of the old yellow part of the galaxy. Almost as if the the starburst came loose and flew away from the staid old star collection that anchored it!

Oh, and... I found a picture that showed the galaxy (NGC 7715) that collided with NGC 7714. It was Art, our beloved Neufer, who originally posted it, and here it is:

NGC 7714 and NGC 7715 (at left). Credit: Hubble Space Telescope/Hubble Legacy Archive.

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Back to the fact that the blue starbursting part of NGC 7714 seems ot be separated from the old yellow part of it. Can't help being reminded of the opening scene of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, where office slaves commit mutiny, turn their office building into a pirate ship, hoist the anchor that keeps their building fastened onto the concrete sidewalk, and sail away.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Ann

[AVAO]

Unfortunately, I, the Galaxy Girl, don't have too much to say about today's APOD

NGC 7714: Starburst after Galaxy Collision. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing & Copyright: Rudy Pohl

---

Starburst after collision - and I guess that the starbursting part came loose! Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio (STScI)

---

But I do find it fascinating that the starbursting part of NGC 7714 appears to be placed in front of the old yellow part of the galaxy. Almost as if the the starburst came loose and flew away from the staid old star collection that anchored it!

Oh, and... I found a picture that showed the galaxy (NGC 7715) that collided with NGC 7714. It was Art, our beloved Neufer, who originally posted it, and here it is:

NGC 7714 and NGC 7715 (at left). Credit: Hubble Space Telescope/Hubble Legacy Archive.

---

Back to the fact that the blue starbursting part of NGC 7714 seems ot be separated from the old yellow part of it. Can't help being reminded of the opening scene of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, where office slaves commit mutiny, turn their office building into a pirate ship, hoist the anchor that keeps their building fastened onto the concrete sidewalk, and sail away.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Ann

ThanX Ann

I don't think the star formations are peeling off. For me, this impression only arises because the APOD shown is a bit too dark.

...I also find the active radio galaxy (QSO B2333+019) in the background (orange circle) exciting. But I haven't found out how far away it actually is. Probably a coincidence...

Jac

Click to view full size image 1 or image 2

bigger:https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/535 ... c50e_o.jpg

jac berne

[johnnydeep]

Unfortunately, I, the Galaxy Girl, don't have too much to say about today's APOD

...

But I do find it fascinating that the starbursting part of NGC 7714 appears to be placed in front of the old yellow part of the galaxy. Almost as if the the starburst came loose and flew away from the staid old star collection that anchored it!

...
Ann

To me, it seems mostly exactly the reverse: the old yellow stars are clearly in front of the starburst areas!

[Ann]

ThanX Ann

I don't think the star formations are peeling off. For me, this impression only arises because the APOD shown is a bit too dark.

...I also find the active radio galaxy (QSO B2333+019) in the background (orange circle) exciting. But I haven't found out how far away it actually is because there is no parallax information. Probably a coincidence...

Jac

Click to view full size image 1 or image 2

bigger:https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/535 ... c50e_o.jpg

jac berne

That's a truly fascinating radio galaxy with enormous jets, Jac! Thanks!

Ann

[Ann]

Unfortunately, I, the Galaxy Girl, don't have too much to say about today's APOD

...

But I do find it fascinating that the starbursting part of NGC 7714 appears to be placed in front of the old yellow part of the galaxy. Almost as if the the starburst came loose and flew away from the staid old star collection that anchored it!

...
Ann

To me, it seems exactly the reverse: the old yellow stars are clearly in front of the starburst areas!

And who am I to say what is up or down or in front of or behind in the Universe?

Ann

[johnnydeep]

Unfortunately, I, the Galaxy Girl, don't have too much to say about today's APOD

...

But I do find it fascinating that the starbursting part of NGC 7714 appears to be placed in front of the old yellow part of the galaxy. Almost as if the the starburst came loose and flew away from the staid old star collection that anchored it!

...
Ann

To me, it seems exactly the reverse: the old yellow stars are clearly in front of the starburst areas!

And who am I to say what is up or down or in front of or behind in the Universe?

Ann

But the "front" or "back" doesn't change depending on orientation. Only "up" and "down" do. Front or back is determined by distance from us!

[Ann]

To me, it seems exactly the reverse: the old yellow stars are clearly in front of the starburst areas!

And who am I to say what is up or down or in front of or behind in the Universe?

Ann

But the "front" or "back" doesn't change depending on orientation. Only "up" and "down" do. Front or back is determined by distance from us!

Guess so. But you can get a little dizzy out there.

---

Ann

[johnnydeep]

And who am I to say what is up or down or in front of or behind in the Universe?

Ann

But the "front" or "back" doesn't change depending on orientation. Only "up" and "down" do. Front or back is determined by distance from us!

Guess so. But you can get a little dizzy out there.

---

Ann

And somewhat related to the concept of front/back is this recent different take on Sagan's Pale Blue Dot in XKCD - https://xkcd.com/2906/

Title text: Just think of all the countless petty squabbles and misunderstandings, of all the fervent hatreds, over so insignificant a thing as the direction and duration of a rocket engine firing.

---

[Guest]

lol. I like the photo that showed when you click on the “charged” link.

[Ann]

But the "front" or "back" doesn't change depending on orientation. Only "up" and "down" do. Front or back is determined by distance from us!

Guess so. But you can get a little dizzy out there.

---

Ann

And somewhat related to the concept of front/back is this recent different take on Sagan's Pale Blue Dot in XKCD - https://xkcd.com/2906/

Title text: Just think of all the countless petty squabbles and misunderstandings, of all the fervent hatreds, over so insignificant a thing as the direction and duration of a rocket engine firing.

---

Okay, enlighten me, Johnny. When did Carl Sagan mess up the low Earth orbit reentry burn?

Ann

[johnnydeep]

Guess so. But you can get a little dizzy out there.
...
Ann

And somewhat related to the concept of front/back is this recent different take on Sagan's Pale Blue Dot in XKCD - https://xkcd.com/2906/

Title text: Just think of all the countless petty squabbles and misunderstandings, of all the fervent hatreds, over so insignificant a thing as the direction and duration of a rocket engine firing.

---

Okay, enlighten me, Johnny. When did Carl Sagan mess up the low Earth orbit reentry burn?

Ann

'Tis a pretty funny joke, that I also missed. I had to check the Explain XKCD page: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2906:_Earth. Carl is a passenger in an errant spacecraft and it was Carl who caused the error!

Explanation
At first sight, this appears to be the famous Carl Sagan commentary, upon the Pale Blue Dot image of Earth, a picture taken by the Voyager 1 probe in 1990 (at that time 6 billion kilometers away) but having been transmitted back to Earth to be appreciated as one of the most iconic 'photos of Earth from space', along with Earthrise and The Blue Marble. Sagan's written, and later spoken, words evoke how the lives of all of us are somehow confined to barely more than a single pixel's-worth of existence upon an already zoomed-in view of space.

From the caption, however, it appears that 'Carl' is not looking at an image. Instead it is a spacecraft window. The minute apparent size of the Earth is as a result of the spacecraft being very far from Earth. This is an unintended consequence of an attempt to deorbit from low Earth orbit (i.e. not more than 2000 kilometers from the Earth's surface, from which the Earth should still mostly fill any view that points towards it). Rather than transitioning from LEO into a re-entry trajectory, somehow the vessel and crew have been sent into a much higher-reaching orbit, if not into a solar or extra-solar trajectory. And it is apparently Carl's fault. The speech is thus not an inward view of where we all are, but an outward look at somewhere that all the crew (unwillingly, and against all recent expectations) are not.

The title text continues with the traditional tone of the speech, only to become an implicit attempt to claim that it wasn't quite as drastic an error as it actually seems to have been.

[Ann]

And somewhat related to the concept of front/back is this recent different take on Sagan's Pale Blue Dot in XKCD - https://xkcd.com/2906/

Title text: Just think of all the countless petty squabbles and misunderstandings, of all the fervent hatreds, over so insignificant a thing as the direction and duration of a rocket engine firing.

---

Okay, enlighten me, Johnny. When did Carl Sagan mess up the low Earth orbit reentry burn?

Ann

'Tis a pretty funny joke, that I also missed. I had to check the Explain XKCD page: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2906:_Earth. Carl is a passenger in an errant spacecraft and it was Carl who caused the error!

Explanation
At first sight, this appears to be the famous Carl Sagan commentary, upon the Pale Blue Dot image of Earth, a picture taken by the Voyager 1 probe in 1990 (at that time 6 billion kilometers away) but having been transmitted back to Earth to be appreciated as one of the most iconic 'photos of Earth from space', along with Earthrise and The Blue Marble. Sagan's written, and later spoken, words evoke how the lives of all of us are somehow confined to barely more than a single pixel's-worth of existence upon an already zoomed-in view of space.

From the caption, however, it appears that 'Carl' is not looking at an image. Instead it is a spacecraft window. The minute apparent size of the Earth is as a result of the spacecraft being very far from Earth. This is an unintended consequence of an attempt to deorbit from low Earth orbit (i.e. not more than 2000 kilometers from the Earth's surface, from which the Earth should still mostly fill any view that points towards it). Rather than transitioning from LEO into a re-entry trajectory, somehow the vessel and crew have been sent into a much higher-reaching orbit, if not into a solar or extra-solar trajectory. And it is apparently Carl's fault. The speech is thus not an inward view of where we all are, but an outward look at somewhere that all the crew (unwillingly, and against all recent expectations) are not.

The title text continues with the traditional tone of the speech, only to become an implicit attempt to claim that it wasn't quite as drastic an error as it actually seems to have been.

Okay... So... The cartoon suggests that Carl Sagan and colleagues are actually inside a spaceship that has been accidentally transported to Saturn (in an almost "Beam me up, Scotty" or rather "Beam me out, Scotty" fashion), and now, having missed their encounter with the Earth, Carl and his ex-friends are actually looking back at the Earth from the vicinity of Saturn?

Ann

[johnnydeep]

Okay, enlighten me, Johnny. When did Carl Sagan mess up the low Earth orbit reentry burn?

Ann

'Tis a pretty funny joke, that I also missed. I had to check the Explain XKCD page: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2906:_Earth. Carl is a passenger in an errant spacecraft and it was Carl who caused the error!

Explanation
At first sight, this appears to be the famous Carl Sagan commentary, upon the Pale Blue Dot image of Earth, a picture taken by the Voyager 1 probe in 1990 (at that time 6 billion kilometers away) but having been transmitted back to Earth to be appreciated as one of the most iconic 'photos of Earth from space', along with Earthrise and The Blue Marble. Sagan's written, and later spoken, words evoke how the lives of all of us are somehow confined to barely more than a single pixel's-worth of existence upon an already zoomed-in view of space.

From the caption, however, it appears that 'Carl' is not looking at an image. Instead it is a spacecraft window. The minute apparent size of the Earth is as a result of the spacecraft being very far from Earth. This is an unintended consequence of an attempt to deorbit from low Earth orbit (i.e. not more than 2000 kilometers from the Earth's surface, from which the Earth should still mostly fill any view that points towards it). Rather than transitioning from LEO into a re-entry trajectory, somehow the vessel and crew have been sent into a much higher-reaching orbit, if not into a solar or extra-solar trajectory. And it is apparently Carl's fault. The speech is thus not an inward view of where we all are, but an outward look at somewhere that all the crew (unwillingly, and against all recent expectations) are not.

The title text continues with the traditional tone of the speech, only to become an implicit attempt to claim that it wasn't quite as drastic an error as it actually seems to have been.

Okay... So... The cartoon suggests that Carl Sagan and colleagues are actually inside a spaceship that has been accidentally transported to Saturn (in an almost "Beam me up, Scotty" or rather "Beam me out, Scotty" fashion), and now, having missed their encounter with the Earth, Carl and his ex-friends are actually looking back at the Earth from the vicinity of Saturn?

Ann

I think all it's implying is that during an attempt to get back to Earth - from some unspecified manned space voyage - that Carl's miscalculation has caused them to instead exit Earth orbit entirely, and they are now far far away and looking back, with Carl trying unsuccessfully to be a Polyanna about it. It could well have taken them some time to get to their current position, rather than in a "transporter"-like fashion, but it doesn't say.