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GPFontaine
Joined: Dec 06 2007
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 11244
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A massive star flung away from its former companion is plowing through space dust. The result is a brilliant bow shock, seen here as a yellow arc in a new image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.
The star, named Zeta Ophiuchi, is huge, with a mass of about 20 times that of our sun. In this image, in which infrared light has been translated into visible colors we see with our eyes, the star appears as the blue dot inside the bow shock.
Zeta Ophiuchi once orbited around an even heftier star. But when that star exploded in a supernova, Zeta Ophiuchi shot away like a bullet. It's traveling at a whopping 54,000 miles per hour (or 24 kilometers per second), and heading toward the upper left area of the picture.
As the star tears through space, its powerful winds push gas and dust out of its way and into what is called a bow shock. The material in the bow shock is so compressed that it glows with infrared light that WISE can see. The effect is similar to what happens when a boat speeds through water, pushing a wave in front of it.
This bow shock is completely hidden in visible light. Infrared images like this one from WISE are therefore important for shedding new light on the region.
JPL manages and operates WISE for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The principal investigator, Edward Wright, is at UCLA. The mission was competitively selected under NASA's Explorers Program managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory, Logan, Utah, and the spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. Science operations and data processing take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. |
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/news/wise20110124.html
So what is the big deal?
This thing is moving at 54,000mph... that is 15 miles per second... and it is 20 times the size of our sun.
Wow... I guess in further reading... that speed isn't so significant when looking at astrological measurements. The earth moves at 18.76 miles per second while orbiting the sun. Probably best if we don't get flung out of orbit...
I guess the big deal is that this isn't a planet being flung, it is an enormous wrecking ball of hot nuclear gas.
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Thorton02
Joined: Mar 13 2009
Location: Arlington
Posts: 467
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You always paint such a nice picture.
I think people that get all bent out of shape about Obamacare and "terrorists" and other stupid crap haven't looked up in a very long time. One slip up in the cosmos and EVERYTHING is wiped out like it never existed. Hell, the Universe could be one gigantic rubber band that retracts every 100 billion years or so and destroys everything to create a tiny dense partical and BOOM, we start over again.
Back on topic, I would love to see this thing go whizzing by one night.
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 No, I don't think I will fuck Stummies. |
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Shut up, Dorn
Title: White Chocolate
Joined: Jan 04 2008
Location: Grate Whyte Norf
Posts: 1179
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Is it on course for our solar system? If not, and I guess odds are that it's not - It's cool.
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phantasmzombie
Joined: May 22 2009
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 353
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| Thorton02 wrote: |
You always paint such a nice picture.
I think people that get all bent out of shape about Obamacare and "terrorists" and other stupid crap haven't looked up in a very long time. One slip up in the cosmos and EVERYTHING is wiped out like it never existed. Hell, the Universe could be one gigantic rubber band that retracts every 100 billion years or so and destroys everything to create a tiny dense partical and BOOM, we start over again.
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Maybe it is because it makes much more sense to worry about things that are within your control rather than things that aren't.
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JoshWoodzy
Joined: May 22 2008
Location: Goshen, VA
Posts: 6544
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Fastest thread derail in history. You guys are so much fun.
Anyways, this is pretty sweet. Astronomy and the like is so interesting. Makes you feel so small.
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Atma
Title: Dragoon
Joined: Apr 29 2010
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 2450
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The "How the Universe Works" 10 episode (i think 10) special that was on Discovery Channel is fucking amazing.
I learned so much shit that I never would have known about. SUPER Black Holes, HYPER Novas, Seeing Digital Animations of Planets Colliding. Seriously bad ass show if you're into Astronomy stuff.
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Thorton02
Joined: Mar 13 2009
Location: Arlington
Posts: 467
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| phantasmzombie wrote: |
| Thorton02 wrote: |
You always paint such a nice picture.
I think people that get all bent out of shape about Obamacare and "terrorists" and other stupid crap haven't looked up in a very long time. One slip up in the cosmos and EVERYTHING is wiped out like it never existed. Hell, the Universe could be one gigantic rubber band that retracts every 100 billion years or so and destroys everything to create a tiny dense partical and BOOM, we start over again.
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Maybe it is because it makes much more sense to worry about things that are within your control rather than things that aren't. |
It's attitudes like that that prevent us from controlling the Universe.
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No, I don't think I will fuck Stummies. |
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Lady_Satine
Title: Head of Lexian R&D
Joined: Oct 15 2005
Location: Metro area, Georgia
Posts: 7287
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| Thorton02 wrote: |
| phantasmzombie wrote: |
| Thorton02 wrote: |
You always paint such a nice picture.
I think people that get all bent out of shape about Obamacare and "terrorists" and other stupid crap haven't looked up in a very long time. One slip up in the cosmos and EVERYTHING is wiped out like it never existed. Hell, the Universe could be one gigantic rubber band that retracts every 100 billion years or so and destroys everything to create a tiny dense partical and BOOM, we start over again. |
Maybe it is because it makes much more sense to worry about things that are within your control rather than things that aren't. |
It's attitudes like that that prevent us from controlling the Universe. |
Also, there's no need to put an empty line before quoting.
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"Life is a waste of time. Time is a waste of life. Get wasted all the time, and you'll have the time of your life!" |
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