Lost in Space - April 25th, 2014

Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. Today I would like to welcome you to another fine edition of the space faring series ‘Lost in Space’! I have some pretty spectacular images, again, from the space telescope Hubble. As well, with each image I will do my best to share information about location, and what it is that we are looking at. However, before we get started today I would like to as just how many of you, My Dear Readers, have taken the plunge?

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The plunge into the horror series, right here at The Other Shoe, ‘The Horror in Smithville’. We are now in our SEVENTH week of this terribly entertaining, and suspenseful, serial horror story. In just a matter of a couple of months this horror series has captured the hearts, and minds, of hundreds of readers. Join us, each and every Thursday, as Timmy and Archer; battle zombie-wolves, stare down ‘The Tall Man’ and take on everything my imagination can throw at them. This run away favorite of you, My Dear Readers, is just getting started. Isn’t it about time that you made a little time, each Thursday, for this incredibly popular and suspenseful horror series?

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Now that we are through with the commercial break, let’s get back to the stars! As with every week I have a batch of incredible images from the Hubble space telescope. Our very first image, for this week’s edition, comes from the El Goro Galaxy Cluster[1]. ‘El Goro’ is Spanish for ‘The Fat One’ and this galaxy cluster lives up to that name. Only a mere 9.7 billion light years from Earth, this cluster has a mass nearly 3 billion times that of our sun, Sol. The immense size of this galaxy cluster was first reported in January 2012 by scientists at NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. I picked this image because it reminded me of something I saw as a young boy. 

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[caption id="attachment_2784" align="aligncenter" width="630"] NASA Hubble Team Finds Monster El Gordo Galaxy Cluster Bigger Than Thought[/caption]

(NASA Hubble Team Finds Monster El Gordo Galaxy Cluster Bigger Than Thought)

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Our next image comes from the constellation Leo and is of the galaxy known as NGC 3455[2]. The image is of a barred spiral galaxy roughly 65 million light years from earth. It was discovered, and this image was taken, April 14^th, 2014. There you go, My Dear Readers, I am keeping you abreast of the newest news in the Hubble discovery universe! Finally, here is a little of the science behind the image, straight from NASA’s web site; “Barred spiral galaxies account for approximately two thirds of all spirals. Galaxies of this type appear to have a bar of stars slicing through the bulge of stars at their center. The SB classification is further sub-divided by the appearance of a galaxy's pinwheeling spiral arms; SBa types have more tightly wound arms, whereas SBc types have looser ones. SBb types, such as NGC 3455, lie in between.”[3]

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[caption id="attachment_2781" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Hubble Sees Galaxies Spiraling around Leo[/caption]

(Hubble Sees Galaxies Spiraling around Leo)

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Moving right along, My Dear Readers, our next stop is in the Tarantula Nebula[4] (also known as 30 Doradus, or NGC 2070). A mere 160,000 light years from earth, a walk in the park by Hubble standards, this nursery for the stars contains (roughly) 800,000 stars in various stages of formation. You just gotta love those nebula! So much science is contained in a nebula like the Tarantula that Hubble has created the ‘Hubble Tarantula Treasury Program’[5] to gather and catalog it all. Now, on with the iamge!

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[caption id="attachment_2780" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Hubble Probes Interior of Tarantula Nebula[/caption]

(Hubble Probes Interior of Tarantula Nebula)

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Let’s keep moving, My Dear Readers, there is another tour group hot on our heels! The next image is brought to us by Messier 83[6]. A big favorite of armature astronomers (there is even a rock band named M83…). A mere 15 million light years away, in the constellation of Hydra[7] this wondrous sight is also known as ‘The Southern Pinwheel’. At roughly 50,000 light years across thisbarred spiral galaxy is home tohundreds of thousands of stars, Ghosts of dead stars called supernova remnants, and stars in all different states of life.

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[caption id="attachment_2782" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Hubble Views Stellar Genesis in the Southern Pinwheel[/caption]

(Hubble Views Stellar Genesis in the Southern Pinwheel)

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Moving right along… let’s pick up the pace, back there at the end of the tour line… we don’t have all day, we have an absolutely fantastic image. This image is reminiscent of a Holiday Wreath, with the center of the wreath the brightest star RC Puppis[8]. RC Puppis is a Cepheid variable star in the constellation of Puppis. This star pulsates in a six week cycle where it will dim, then build up the luminosity we see in the image below. At its highest point of luminosity it is 15,000 times brighter than our sun, Sol.

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[caption id="attachment_2783" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Hubble Watches Super Star Create Holiday Light Show[/caption]

(Hubble Watches Super Star Create Holiday Light Show)

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Our final image, for the day, comes to us from the galaxy ESO 137-001[9]. Another barred spiral galaxy it is located in the start cluster known as Abell 3627[10] (also known as Norma Cluster). This image is of a cluster of galaxies roughly 200 million light years from earth. The Norma Cluster appears zooming to the upper right of this image. Yes, it is the ghost-like spiral blue near the top right of the image. As a special treat just below the static image, just for you My Dear Readers, is a video from NASA/JPL just about this image and the heading. ENJOY!

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[caption id="attachment_2786" align="aligncenter" width="630"] NASA's Hubble Finds Life is Too Fast, Too Furious for This Runaway Galaxy[/caption]

(NASA's Hubble Finds Life is Too Fast, Too Furious for This Runaway Galaxy)

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[youtube=http://youtu.be/Y0gamjjr45Q]

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Well, My Dear Readers, that brings us to the end of another great edition of ‘Lost in Space’ right here at The Other Shoe. I hope that everyone has enjoyed the wonderful images. As well, I want you to be aware that there is a huge amount of science contained in these articles. Just follow any of the nine links (at the bottom of the article) to the accompanying articles about the galaxies and nebula contained within this article.

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Yes, I do go the extra mile for you, My Dear Readers. I really wish that I had a telescope… and lived in a place where all the stars are wiped clean from the sky by background light pollution. Yes, for the past twenty-seven years I have lived in the Los Angeles basin. Once there, all the stars in the sky are wiped clean and replaced with, airplanes and helicopters. I remember my first week here, living in Hollywood, I just couldn’t sleep at all because of the constant noise of police helicopters and the irritating background light pollution. Again, enjoy this trip through the heavens, this walk among the stars, brought to you by Yours Truly each and every week, right here at The Other Shoe.

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Adieu!

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Thank YOU!
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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="234"] The Other Shoe eBay Store[/caption]

www.ebay.com/usr/enzomatrixlt

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[caption id="attachment_2296" align="aligncenter" width="630"] The Other Shoe's Daniel Hanning 2/2014[/caption]

 

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[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Gordo_(galaxy_cluster)

[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_3455

[3]http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-sees-galaxies-spiraling-around-leo/#.U1lGNVVdX84

[4]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_Nebula

[5]http://30dor.stsci.edu/HTTP.html

[6]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_83

[7]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(constellation)

[8]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS_Puppis

[9]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESO_137-001

[10]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abell_3627