APOD: Halo of the Cat's Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
Post Reply
User avatar
APOD Robot
Otto Posterman
Posts: 5344
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:27 am
Contact:

APOD: Halo of the Cat's Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by APOD Robot » Fri Aug 31, 2012 4:06 am

Image Halo of the Cat's Eye

Explanation: The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the best known planetary nebulae in the sky. Its haunting symmetries are seen in the very central region of this tantalizing image, processed to reveal the enormous but extremely faint halo of gaseous material, about 6 light-years across, which surrounds the brighter, familiar planetary nebula. Made with narrow and broadband data the composite picture shows the remarkably strong extended emission from twice ionized oxygen atoms in blue-green hues and ionized hydrogen and nitrogen in red. Planetary nebulae have long been appreciated as a final phase in the life of a sun-like star. But recently many planetaries have been found to have halos like this one, likely formed of material shrugged off during earlier active episodes in the star's evolution. While the planetary nebula phase is thought to last for around 10,000 years, astronomers estimate the age of the outer filamentary portions of this halo to be 50,000 to 90,000 years.

<< Previous APOD This Day in APOD Next APOD >>
[/b]

Boomer12k
:---[===] *
Posts: 2691
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2007 12:07 am

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat s Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by Boomer12k » Fri Aug 31, 2012 9:34 am

Pretty picture!!!
Ann should be pleased...

Lots of wispy shapes.

AND IT IS MADE BY NIKE!!! (Nike symbol in Red, lower right...it is upside down. :shock:


:---[===] *

User avatar
Moonlady
Selenian
Posts: 666
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:06 pm

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat s Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by Moonlady » Fri Aug 31, 2012 11:13 am

Totally beautiful! :clap:

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat s Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by orin stepanek » Fri Aug 31, 2012 11:25 am

Boomer12k wrote:Pretty picture!!!
Ann should be pleased...

Lots of wispy shapes.

AND IT IS MADE BY NIKE!!! (Nike symbol in Red, lower right...it is upside down. :shock:


:---[===] *
Beautiful indeed; and it's Blue! :wink: :D
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

starsurfer
Stellar Cartographer
Posts: 5306
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:25 pm

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat s Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by starsurfer » Fri Aug 31, 2012 12:10 pm

Mmmm......doubly ionized oxygen! Is one of the most detailed images of this planetary nebula. There should be at least 2-5 more planetary nebula images per year on APOD! Stardeath is beautiful!!

Devil Particle
Ensign
Posts: 43
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:26 pm
Location: Philadelphia

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat s Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by Devil Particle » Fri Aug 31, 2012 12:42 pm

It appears to be hexagonal in shape. Is there any known reason for this and could it be linked to Saturn's hexagonal south polar vortex?

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat s Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by neufer » Fri Aug 31, 2012 1:54 pm

Devil Particle wrote:
It appears to be hexagonal in shape.

Is there any known reason for this and could it be linked to Saturn's hexagonal south polar vortex?
It has nothing to do with Saturn's hexagonal south polar vortex.

It is probably some sort of extension of the inner symmetries:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110424.html
Art Neuendorffer

AlfaCentaury
Asternaut
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Aug 31, 2012 3:22 pm

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat s Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by AlfaCentaury » Fri Aug 31, 2012 3:31 pm

beautiful picture !

User avatar
Psnarf
Science Officer
Posts: 320
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:19 pm

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat s Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by Psnarf » Fri Aug 31, 2012 3:33 pm

Is it possible that the structure of the halo results from the central star's ancient stellar wind interacting with the magnetic pressure of the interstellar medium, much like our own heliosphere?
[Idle speculation.]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ibex/ ... shock.html
http://swri.org/9what/releases/2012/bowshock.htm
http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/heic0414a

User avatar
LocalColor
Science Officer
Posts: 266
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2012 9:11 pm
Location: Central Idaho, USA
Contact:

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat s Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by LocalColor » Fri Aug 31, 2012 4:35 pm

Absolutely beautiful. The Cat's Eye is one of my favorites.

User avatar
Ann
4725 Å
Posts: 13369
Joined: Sat May 29, 2010 5:33 am

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat s Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by Ann » Fri Aug 31, 2012 4:41 pm

orin stepanek wrote:
Boomer12k wrote:Pretty picture!!!
Ann should be pleased...

Lots of wispy shapes.

AND IT IS MADE BY NIKE!!! (Nike symbol in Red, lower right...it is upside down. :shock:


:---[===] *
Beautiful indeed; and it's Blue! :wink: :D
Indeed, it's beautiful! :D

Ann
Color Commentator

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat's Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by neufer » Mon Sep 03, 2012 9:09 pm

APOD Robot wrote:Image Halo of the Cat's Eye
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?gallery_id=2&image_id=943 wrote:
Image
The largest crater is approx. 60 km in diameter
Cat's Eye: Messenger, Aug. 30, 2012
<<This crater, located on the eastern margin of [Mercury's] Rembrandt basin, has a distinctive, elongate depression oriented north-south on its floor. The depression was previously imaged in mosaics of Rembrandt (it is barely visible near the center of this color image), and morphologically resembles depressions interpreted as volcanic vents elsewhere on Mercury. That this vent is aligned with where we would expect Rembrandt's rim to lie (were it not removed by this crater) suggests that the larger basin may have structurally controlled the location and development of this pit.

This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted observation. Targeted observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions much higher than the 200-meter/pixel morphology base map. It is not possible to cover all of Mercury's surface at this high resolution, but typically several areas of high scientific interest are imaged in this mode each week.>>

Credit: NASA/JHU APL/CIS
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat's Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by neufer » Mon Sep 03, 2012 9:17 pm

http://astrobob.areavoices.com/?blog=78068 wrote: Adah the cat caught licking the looking glass
Posted on September 3, 2012 by astrobob

<<This sweet photo makes me cringe and laugh at the same time. Amateur astronomer Richie Townsend of Duluth, Minn. was cleaning his 8-inch telescope mirror when his cat Adah walked up, saw her reflection and started licking away. Look closely and you’ll see a water film on the mirror. How could she resist a few licks off that silvery surface? “I was nearly finished with the final rinse,” said Townsend. “Her “help” only required a small extra swipe with a cloth.”

Telescope mirror surfaces are ground to an accuracy of about one-millionth of an inch and coated on their front surface by a thin film of highly-reflective aluminum. They’re different from everyday mirrors, which are coated on the backside. Good thing. If a bathroom mirror were aluminized on the front side, you’d soon damage the coating after a few cleanings with Windex. Astronomical mirrors are coated on the front side to prevent precious light rays from being absorbed by a layer of glass. Aluminum coatings are still soft and vulnerable to scratching during the occasional cleanings they require. That’s why telescope mirror manufactures apply an additional overcoat of transparent silicon dioxide (silica). Silica is commonly found in nature as sand and quartz. The overcoat is tough enough to allow for gentle, infrequent cleanings.

A friend pointed out it was a good thing Adah didn’t cough up a hairball. Good thing indeed. Acids and salts can slowly eat away at mirror coatings. You might be surprised (or not) to know that acid, as in acid rain, is also found in dew. Repeating dewings of telescope mirrors on damp nights will slowly etch and flake coatings. Salty air near the oceans is no friend of mirrors either. It costs about $70 to re-coat a typical 8-inch telescope mirror. That’s why amateur and professional astronomers alike baby their mirrors, trying to find a balance between overcleaning and keeping them dew-free. I’ve got a low-wattage light bulb rigged up under my main telescope mirror to keep it warm overnight so no dew can form. I unplug the light and let the mirror cool down before using the scope at night.>>
Art Neuendorffer

Devil Particle
Ensign
Posts: 43
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:26 pm
Location: Philadelphia

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat s Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by Devil Particle » Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:10 pm

neufer wrote:
Devil Particle wrote:
It appears to be hexagonal in shape.

Is there any known reason for this and could it be linked to Saturn's hexagonal south polar vortex?
It has nothing to do with Saturn's hexagonal south polar vortex.

It is probably some sort of extension of the inner symmetries:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110424.html

Maybe it has something to do with the presence of water crystals.

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Halo of the Cat s Eye (2012 Aug 31)

Post by neufer » Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:16 pm

Devil Particle wrote:
neufer wrote:
Devil Particle wrote:
It appears to be hexagonal in shape.

Is there any known reason for this and could it be linked to Saturn's hexagonal south polar vortex?
It has nothing to do with Saturn's hexagonal south polar vortex.

It is probably some sort of extension of the inner symmetries:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110424.html
Maybe it has something to do with the presence of water crystals.
It has nothing to do with the presence of any water crystals.
Art Neuendorffer

Post Reply