APOD: Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud (2021 Mar 18)

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APOD Robot
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APOD: Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud (2021 Mar 18)

Post by APOD Robot » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:05 am

Image Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud

Explanation: Clouds of stardust drift through this deep skyscape, across the Perseus molecular cloud some 850 light-years away. Dusty nebulae reflecting light from embedded young stars stand out in the nearly 2 degree wide telescopic field of view. With a characteristic bluish color reflection nebula NGC 1333 is at center, vdB 13 at top right, with rare yellowish reflection nebula vdB 12 near the top of the frame. Stars are forming in the molecular cloud, though most are obscured at visible wavelengths by the pervasive dust. Still, hints of contrasting red emission from Herbig-Haro objects, the jets and shocked glowing gas emanating from recently formed stars, are evident in NGC 1333. The chaotic environment may be similar to one in which our own Sun formed over 4.5 billion years ago. At the estimated distance of the Perseus molecular cloud, this cosmic scene would span about 40 light-years.

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Knight of Clear Skies
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Re: APOD: Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud (2021 Mar 18)

Post by Knight of Clear Skies » Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:57 am

If you rotate this image 90 degrees to the right it looks just like a balrog, finally settling the age-old internet debate on whether they had wings.
Caradon Observatory, Cornwall, UK.

k.w.jung

Re: APOD: Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud (2021 Mar 18)

Post by k.w.jung » Thu Mar 18, 2021 8:54 am

Fact check: No, NASA did not find a parallel universe
Matthew Brown, USA TODAY
USA TODAYMay 28, 2020, 10:10 AM GMT+9

NASA Scientists Discover Possible Evidence of a Parallel Universe
By Amy Beeman
Updated Oct 15, 2020 at 8:28am

Hi,
Which one is right?

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Ann
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Re: APOD: Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud (2021 Mar 18)

Post by Ann » Thu Mar 18, 2021 10:21 am

KerryLeckyHepburn_NGC1333_LRGB_SH_KLH1024[1].jpg
Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud.
Image Credit & Copyright: Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn, Stuart Heggie

That's a really fine APOD! I very much appreciate how the background stars are completely hidden behind dust in many places, where in other parts the background stars are clearly seen.

The NGC 1333 region in Perseus reminds me of the NGC 6726/NGC 6727 region in Corona Australis. Both NGC 1333 and NGC 6726/NGC 6727 are active regions of low-mass star formation. In both cases, the most massive stars that have formed are stars of spectral class A or late B. These A- and B-type stars are typically immersed in reflection nebulas, remnants of their birth cocoons. The blue stars are therefore very young. They are also reddened and relatively faint for their spectral class.

Meanwhile, star formation is still going on, but the stars that are forming now are typically much more light-weight than the bright blue stars. We can see faint orange light from small stars punching through the darkness of their birth cocoons, and there are tiny red emission nebulas from other stages of star formation. Jets, loops and shocked gas can be seen where the dust is thickest and where stars are still being formed.

We can observe tiny birth cries from small stars being born.

Ann
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Re: APOD: Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud (2021 Mar 18)

Post by neufer » Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:04 pm

Click to play embedded YouTube video.
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
Art Neuendorffer

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Chris Peterson
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Re: APOD: Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud (2021 Mar 18)

Post by Chris Peterson » Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:41 pm

k.w.jung wrote: Thu Mar 18, 2021 8:54 am Fact check: No, NASA did not find a parallel universe
Matthew Brown, USA TODAY
USA TODAYMay 28, 2020, 10:10 AM GMT+9

NASA Scientists Discover Possible Evidence of a Parallel Universe
By Amy Beeman
Updated Oct 15, 2020 at 8:28am

Hi,
Which one is right?
Neither. Or both, depending on how you look at it. Some curious anomalies were found in a set of neutrino detections, for which one possible but unlikely explanation could involve some kind of parallel universe. The actual paper points out this extreme possibility and then goes on to treat the entire problem as one to be addressed using the Standard Model. Because the paper mentioned, very much in passing, the idea of a "parallel universe", the tabloids jumped all over it.
Chris

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Re: APOD: Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud (2021 Mar 18)

Post by orin stepanek » Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:49 pm

KerryLeckyHepburn_NGC1333_LRGB_SH_KLH1024.jpg
Nothing to say; except, Beautiful! 8-)
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Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

WWW

Re: APOD: Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud (2021 Mar 18)

Post by WWW » Fri Mar 19, 2021 12:07 am

Knight of Clear Skies wrote: Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:57 am If you rotate this image 90 degrees to the right it looks just like a balrog, finally settling the age-old internet debate on whether they had wings.
Knight, I think the last link given in the paragraph fits your creature even better, in NGC 1333


https://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/image/s ... e-infrared