Starship Asterisk*

LDN 43: The Cosmic Bat Nebula

Explanation: What is the most spook-tacular nebula in the galaxy? One contender is LDN 43, which bears an astonishing resemblance to a vast cosmic bat flying amongst the stars on a dark Halloween night. Located about 1400 light years away in the constellation Ophiuchus, this molecular cloud is dense enough to block light not only from background stars, but from wisps of gas lit up by the nearby reflection nebula LBN 7. Far from being a harbinger of death, this 12-light year-long filament of gas and dust is actually a stellar nursery. Glowing with eerie light, the bat is lit up from inside by dense gaseous knots that have just formed young stars.

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...I like bats too in infrared...


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/524 ... 270b_o.jpg
jac berne (flickr)


... and the closeup of the young central star (RNO 91 rotated 180 degrees) by Judy.

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA (Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt)

It is a Fake p)

You should look at NGC 7129. Looks like a ghost!

https://throughlightandtime.com/narrowb ... sept-2021/

OOh that's spooky! Just out of curiosity, concerning the names of nebulae, does the letter D in LDN 43 means Dark Nebula, and the B in LBN 7 means Bright Nebula?

Did you ever get a bat in your house? They are hard to catch! kitty's back!

De58te wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 1:25 pm OOh that's spooky! Just out of curiosity, concerning the names of nebulae, does the letter D in LDN 43 means Dark Nebula, and the B in LBN 7 means Bright Nebula?

Swedish galactic astronomer Bertil Lindblad (1895-1965), and ND is supposed to be Dark Nebula

De58te wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 1:25 pm OOh that's spooky! Just out of curiosity, concerning the names of nebulae, does the letter D in LDN 43 means Dark Nebula, and the B in LBN 7 means Bright Nebula?

LDN: Lynds' Catalog of Dark Nebulae
LBN: Lynds' Catalog of Bright Nebulae

(Cataloged by Beverly Lynds back in the 1950s and 1960s off the original Palomar Sky Survey plates.)

Now,,, I know that NASA would never air brush or photo shop any of their space photos, but,,, this shot of the bat nebula is so real looking,, Even down to the facial features,, Very artistic looking,,, Very appropriate for Halloween,,

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 2:23 pm LDN: Lynds' Catalog of Dark Nebulae
LBN: Lynds' Catalog of Bright Nebulae

(Cataloged by Beverly Lynds back in the 1950s and 1960s off the original Palomar Sky Survey plates.)

I was going to answer this with the links and found Chris had already answered. So I added the links.

To catch a bat in the house just get a tennis racket and a hand-held fishing net. Scoop the bat and seal the net with the racket. Release it outdoors. It will fly away uninjured.

Most. Realistic. Pareidolia. Ever !

DL MARTIN wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 4:41 pm To catch a bat in the house just get a tennis racket and a hand-held fishing net. Scoop the bat and seal the net with the racket. Release it outdoors. It will fly away uninjured.

I sneaked up on it with a shoe box against the wall! slid a cardboard between box and wall; took him outside and released him! worked for me! Similar to yours, except I don't have a net & don't play tennis!

Iksarfighter wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 12:07 pm It is a Fake p)

Oh no...don't tell me they got me AGAIN! Halloween! Touché!

Well, I hope this star-bearing creature of the night has its IR sensors set to maximum.
Ultrasonic radar won't be much use for navigating out there in the deep vacuum. Large-scale Halloween hazard . . .

heehaw wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 10:45 pm

Iksarfighter wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 12:07 pm It is a Fake p)

Oh no...don't tell me they got me AGAIN! Halloween! Touché!

??? Why do you say this is fake?

Jupiter’s Halloween Surprise
https://youtube.com/shorts/q9P9OlwAk30?feature=share