The Other Shoe: Lost in Space - Hubble

(The Eagle Nebula)

Welcome back My Dear Shoevians to The Other Shoe. First, My Dear Shoevians, I would like to share an apology. After several weeks of keeping up with writing and publishing, on a regular schedule, I have failed to meet this goal over the past several days. My health has taken a turn for the worse and I have been sleeping and resting for 12-18 hours each day. The pain in cervical spine has worsened greatly. At the same time, I have found myself nearly completely unable to; walk, use my left hand, and speak without stuttering greatly.

I am falling, in side my home, frequently. When I go to work on an article of write, at all, I am greeted (within 10 minuets of sitting down behind the keyboard) with tremendous waves of pain that start in my neck and shoot down into my arms and hands. These waves of pain continue, and grow worse and worse, until I cannot think straight and must relent in my work. Once I have powered down my system, cleared the bed of work materials, and laid down completely prone I begin to find relief. Within thirty minuets of lying prone on my bed, the shooting pains begin to lessen, my neck relaxes and the waves of pain become less frequent.

Honestly, My Dear Shoevians, I really do not know or understand why my pain and suffering has increased so. Do not understand why I am being, again, challenged to face up to my pain, ‘bite-the-bullet’ (so to speak) and work through the growing pain in an effort to keep my blog going (and growing). It has always been my ultimate goal to create a number of blogs that share; news, information, images and videos on subjects I enjoy most and that I feel are left-out of many/all mainstream media outlets. Just today, there was another ‘Bing/MSNBC/Pulse poll, on Donald Trump. They asked the question “Since Trump’s Appearance on Meet the Press, do you take him more seriously?”

When the poll ended (at Noon Pacific time) it stood at: 6% NO (His appearance did NOT improve my opinion of Trump) vs 40% responding that YES it did improve their opinion of Trump. Another poll showing that Donald Trump (and his efforts at garnering the Republican Nomination) meet with DISapproval my a majority of Americans! I find it to be gravely disingenuous (of MSNBC) to run these polls, and then (when they do NOT favor Trump) MSNBC just does NOT report the results! FYI For more than an hour the poll actually stayed @ 64%-66% NOT “more seriously” to 36%-34% YES“more seriously”. Therefore, for a preponderance of the polling, and by a vast majority (of those polled) Donald J. Trump’s appearance this past Sunday (On ‘Meet the Press’) was just ‘more-of-the-same’, did NOT distinguish himself in a positive or even a Presidential fashion, and failed (#epicfail)at proving that he can give an interview that swayed any but his already enamored followers.

(Bing/MSNBC/Pulse Poll Showing 60% did NOT take him more seriously)

My Dear Shoevians, again, I really do apologize for my inability to continue to; research, download, upload, edit and publish (regularly) five to seven articles per week. That has always been ‘My Goal’, and it has especially been my goal since I purchased and started my ‘Brand New’ and‘All-My-Own’ blog location. I did make a agreement (with my benefactor) that I would do my very best to establish and keep a “regular publishing schedule” to prove my appreciation for their generosity and support.

Enough said. Now, My Dear Shoevians, I am going to share with all of you nearly two-dozen images from the Hubble Space Telescope. Whilst roaming the many web pages, of the NASA web site, a wandered into a huge collection of (what I feel to be) an incredible, awe-inspiring and wondrous images from all around our galaxy and beyond. I cannot put into words the shear wonder that this one‘space telescope’ has brought to mankind. As well, it has provided a constant and incredible flow of breath-taking images and science. Each, and every, week My Dear Shoevians, I do my level best to bring as many of these incredible images to you via my blog(s).

For our first image, of this edition of ‘Lost In Space – Hubble’ I am taking you to a “galaxy far, far away”. The galaxy is located in the constellation of Draco and has the designation ‘NGC-6503’. It spans some 30,000 light-years (about 1/3 the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy) and finds itself in a very unique place in space. For you see, My Dear Shoevians, that NGC-6503 is a very lonely galaxy! 18 million light-years from our home, it sits just on the other side of a strangely empty patch of space known as ‘The Local Void’!

‘The Local Void’ is a stretch of space that measures, at least, 150 million light-years across. It appears to be completely devoid of; stars, planets, or any galaxies! This is a very unique region of space, and one that (to this days) remains without explanation. However, today’s image is of the closest galaxy to ‘The Local Void’ and has gained the name the “Lost in Space Galaxy” by Stephen James O’Meara in his 2007 book ‘Hidden Treasures’! So, My Dear Shoevians, here we have ‘The LOST in SPACE Galaxy’ the last signpost of ‘The Local Void’! (FYI – Can you guess just WHY I would pick a galaxy names the LOST IN SPACE galaxy to appear in an article series… named… … … ‘Lost in Space’?)

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(The ‘Lost in Space’ Galaxy as Seen by Hubble)

Now, My Dearest Readers, I will do my best to keep giving you the most; information, location, and background for all the images I have to present here today. However, some images might come with less or even less information. Thank you for your understanding of my health situation, and your support as Shoevians! Thank you!

Coming a little closer to home, just 48 million light-years from us here in the Milky Way Galaxy, we find the galaxy NGC-428. NGC-428 lies in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster) and is aspiral-arm galaxy just like our own. As can be seen, in the image below, the galaxy NGC-428 is quitedistorted and warped. It is thought that this is the case due to a collision between two galaxies!

“There also appears to be a substantial amount of star formation occurring within NGC 428 — another telltale sign of a merger. When galaxies collide their clouds of gas can merge, creating intense shocks and hot pockets of gas, and often triggering new waves of star formation.

NGC 428 was discovered by William Herschel in December 1786. More recently a type of supernova designated SN2013ct was discovered within the galaxy by Stuart Parker of the BOSS (Backyard Observatory Supernova Search) project in Australia and New Zealand, although it is unfortunately not visible in this image.”[2]

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(NGC-428 ‘Mess of Stars’)

Now no edition of ‘Lost in Space’ or ‘The Mars Report’ would be complete without sharing some‘brand new science’! Our next image, My Dear Shoevians, falls into that category of images. Taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers used this image to establish a direct link between “supermassive black holes that power high-speed, radio emitting jets” and “a history of merger with other galaxies”. This is real science in the stage of discovery! While I enjoy writing, and think I am pretty darn good at taking astronomy and presenting it in a way it is understandable to most? I am going to share a quote of the science involved… then the incredible image that caught my eye!

“A team of astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope found an unambiguous link between the presence of supermassive black holes that power high-speed, radio-signal-emitting jets and the merger history of their host galaxies. Almost all galaxies with the jets were found to be merging with another galaxy, or to have done so recently.The team studied a large selection of galaxies with extremely luminous centers — known as active galactic nuclei — thought to be the result of large quantities of heated matter circling around and being consumed by a supermassive black hole. While most galaxies are thought to host supermassive black holes, only a small percentage of them are this luminous and fewer still go one step further and form what are known as relativistic jets. The two high-speed jets of plasma move almost at the speed of light and stream out in opposite directions at right angles to the disc of matter surrounding the black hole, extending thousands of light-years into space.Future observations could expand the survey set even further and continue to shed light on these complex and powerful processes.”[4]

(Hubble Survey Confirms Link Between Mergers and Supermassive Black Holes with Relativistic Jets)

The subject of our next image resides within the constellation of Dorado (The Swordfish). This is a little-known galaxy with the all-to-long-name of ‘J04542829-6625280’. Also known as ‘LEDA-89996’ it is s classic example of another ‘Spiral-Arm Galaxy’ (the same as our very own ‘Milky Way Galaxy’). So close, to our own Milky Way galaxy, Leda 89996 appears to be very close to the ‘Large Magnetic Cloud’ – one of the satellite galaxies of our ‘Milky Way’. Some areas of this image appear to be out of focus, even blurry. Actually, these areas are full of dusts and gases the building blocks of future suns.

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(Hubble Looks at Stunning Spiral-Arm Galaxy)

Now, My Dear Shoevians, we are going to ‘knock-it-up-a-notch’ with out next image for this edition of ‘Lost in Space’. This image captures two galaxies locked in a mortal embrace. The galaxies are known as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039. These once normal sedate galaxies, much like our own Milky Way, have spent the last few million years in a galactic-sparring-match the likes of which mankind has never witnessed before. This galactic encounter is so violent that stars have been ripped from the host galaxies and torn into a streaming arch between the two galaxies. From the article that explained this image:

“This new image of the Antennae Galaxies shows obvious signs of chaos. Clouds of gas are seen in bright pink and red, surrounding the bright flashes of blue star-forming regions — some of which are partially obscured by dark patches of dust. The rate of star formation is so high that the Antennae Galaxies are said to be in a state of starburst, a period in which all of the gas within the galaxies is being used to form stars. This cannot last forever and neither can the separate galaxies; eventually the nuclei will coalesce, and the galaxies will begin their retirement together as one large elliptical galaxy.”

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(NASA Hubble Sees Sparring Antennae Galaxies)

Now, we move away from sparring galaxies and on to my most favorite subject for galactic images…nebula. The wallpaper for my cell phone is the ‘Horse Head Nebula’. These hot glowing clouds of gas are the birthplace of our stars. This nebula is located in the constellation of Sagittarius. Intense winds from hot stars, churning funnels of gas all work together to form an intricate haze of gas and pitch dark black dust. I picked this image because I thought it would make a great wallpaper, I as right! FYI My Dear Shoevians, if at any time you enjoy an image you see in, either, ‘Lost in Space’or ‘The Mars Report’ and you would like to use said image? Just click on the image, and it should take you to a separate page where the image appears in its original HD form. Not all of my blog locations do this. I know that my all new location (http://theothershoe.co) does… and Word Press (www.theothersshoe.wordpress.com) but check it out and click on the image. Secondary to that? You can just follow the footnote to the bottom of the article. There you can click on the link to the original source for the image, and get the HD version of the image you want. These stellar images do make for great desktops and wallpapers. Now for ‘Stormy Seas in Sagittarius’.

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(Stormy Seas in Sagittarius)

Staying in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer), we move from one type of nebula, to another. This image is of a ‘Planetary Nebula’ designated NGC-6818. Only a mere 6,000 light-years from our own Milky Way, this nebula is actually a sun in retirement. When a sun, like our own sun Sol, comes to the end of its life span (retirement) they shed their outer layers into space to create glowing gas clouds called planetary nebula. This ejection of mass and energy can be uneven and, as shown in this image, have very complex structures. You can clearly see the knotty “filament-like” structures, and the distinct layers of material. There is a very bright center, surrounded by slower moving clouds of gas and dust. Giving us the illusion of a gem hanging in space.

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(Hubble Finds a Little Gem)

Now moving away from our Milky Way galaxy, as a matter of fact moving 15 million light-years away. We come to the barred Spiral galaxy M83. Known as the ‘Southern Pinwheel’ it is located in the constellation of Hydra. The ‘Southern Pinwheel’ contains an unknown number of; stars, planets, and supernovae and stretches across 50,000 light-years. This image is being used by the citizen project titled ‘Star Date M83’whose primary goal is to estimate the ages for the approximately 3,000 star clusters. I was just taken aback by the; size, clarity, depth of field, density and contrast of this image.

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(Hubble Views Stellar Genesis in the Southern Pinwheel)

For our next image I have found a galaxy in a ‘tug-of-war’ with another passing galaxy. A mere 100 million light-years from earth (in the constellation of Pisces) the galaxy NGC-7714 is in a galactic struggle with NGC-7715. In this image you can clearly see that this galaxy is being pulled inside out by the passing NGC-7715. The galaxy is distorted by the gravitational tug-o’-war much like taffy-pulling’ We cannot see the other galaxy, NGC-7715, as it is just outside the frame of this image. This galactic battle began about 100 million to 200 million years ago, about the time when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

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(Hubble Spies a Loopy Galaxy)

Our next image come form another Barred Spiral Galaxy known as NGC-986. First discovered ion 1828 by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. This image was taken by Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. Found in the constellation of Fornax (The Furnace) located in the southern sky. The galaxy is very bright a 11^th magnitude galaxy situated a mere 56 million light-years from Earth.

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(Hubble Sees a Spiral in a Furnace)

Well, My Dear Shoevians, that brings us to the end of this article and to our very last image of the day. Thing is? This is my 13^th image in an article that will be 17 pages long. That genuinely qualifies this edition of ‘Lost in Space’ as a “Gargantuan” edition of this storied series. I am always a little thrilled when I manage to hit that mark, and happy that I have worked hard to provide all of you, My Dearest Shoevians, with the most images and descriptions possible. Now, on with the remainder of the show!

Our final image is of a ‘Galaxy with a Glowing Heart’. That was the caption for the image, and I am not going to change it at all! Getting even closer, back to home here in the Milky Way, we find ourselves just 32 million light-years away from Earth. Located in the constellation of Dorado NGC-1433 is a spiral galaxy, but a quite rare type of spiral galaxy. Known as a as a Seyfert galaxy they are only about one in ten of the known galaxies. They have very bright luminous centers which compare to the entire brightness of our Milky Way! The core of this galaxy is being studied by LEGUS (Legacy ExtraGalatic UV Survery). Here is a quote from the article for the image.

“Galaxy cores are of great interest to astronomers. The centers of most, if not all, galaxies are thought to contain a supermassive black hole, surrounded by a disk of in-falling material.NGC 1433 is being studied as part of a survey of 50 nearby galaxies known as the Legacy ExtraGalactic UV Survey (LEGUS). Ultraviolet radiation is observed from galaxies, mainly tracing the most recently formed stars. In Seyfert galaxies, ultraviolet light is also thought to emanate from the accretion discs around their central black holes. Studying these galaxies in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum is incredibly useful to study how the gas is behaving near the black hole. This image was obtained using a mix of ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light.”[12]

That brings us to the image, itself. I am thinking I might just drop-in some images at the end of the article. I am just fighting hard through the pain… I wanted, so much, to cover all the images I have picked. Share the information and any science and discoveries. However, I am just not going to be able to accomplish that task, and get this article published any time soon. Here is ‘Hubble Sees a Galaxy with a Glowing Heart’!

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(Hubble Sees a Galaxy With a Glowing Heart)

Well, I just couldn’t do it… leave without trying to present all the images I hand-picked for you, My Dear Shoevians. Although my hands are making each and every word a difficult task, and my mind is flooded with pain messages, I will persevere! Now, we come really close to HOME! We move into just THIRTEEN (13) million miles away to one of the closest groups of galaxies to ‘The Local Group’(The Local Group contains US-The Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds). In the constellation of Sculptor the galaxy of NGC-7793 is the subject of our next image. This image shows NGC-7793’s spiral arms and a central bulge. This galaxy does not have a pronounced spiral shape and is further muddled by the mottled pattern of dark dust that stretches across the frame. From the article that accompanied this image.

“Although it may look serene and beautiful from our perspective, this galaxy is actually a very dramatic and violent place. Astronomers have discovered a powerful micro-quasar within NGC 7793 — a system containing a black hole actively feeding on material from a companion star. A micro-quasar is an object that has some of the properties of quasars in miniature. While many full-sized quasars are known at the cores of other galaxies, it is unusual to find a quasar in a galaxy’s disk rather than at its center.Micro-quasars are almost like scale models — they allow astronomers to study quasars in detail. As material falls inwards towards this black hole, it creates a swirling disk around it. Some of the infalling gas is propelled violently outwards at extremely high speeds, creating jets streaking out into space in opposite directions. In the case of NGC 7793, these jets are incredibly powerful, and are in the process of creating an expanding bubble of hot gas some 1,000 light-years across.”[14]

Now, for the image itself!

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(Hubble Finds Jets and Explosions in NGC 7793)

This is truly the end, My Dear Shoevians. I found the next image, while researching and documenting the others, and cannot find the image credit. Please forgive!

(The Milky Way as Seen from Earth)

That brings us to the end of this edition of ‘Lost in Space’. I do hope that you have enjoyed your time spent here, today. As always, if you have enjoyed the images, perhaps gained some knowledge from the content, and generally had an enjoyable stay? Please, ‘Like’ and ‘Share’ this article via all your social media. This way all your; family, friends, co-workers and acquaintances can too enjoy and learn. What better way to say you care than to share something that you enjoyed?

I will be back, later this week, once I have something more to share… and my pain is back down to a manageable level. Have a great and productive week.

Adieu!

Thank you!