Saturday, February 17, 2007

Magnificent Eagle Nebula where stars are being born


One of my wall pictures is a framed closeup of this magnificent Eagle Nebula where stars are being born. Taken with the Hubble Space Telescope it is a favorite astronomical photo for many.
Now it seems like more information is being found and stars are making their way to prominence to an even greater extent.
Sun’s “twin” found, as embryo
Feb. 16, 2007
Courtesy University of Colorado at Boulder
and
World Science staff
Astronomers say they have peered at the embryo of a star that will probably develop into a virtual twin of our sun. It’s one of four newfound “proto-stars” that are probably the youngest stars astronomers have ever imaged, theresearchers said.
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/070216_sun-embryo.htm
more about the Eagle Nebula
M16: Pillars of Creation
Credit: J. Hester, P. Scowen (ASU), HST, NASA
Explanation: It has become one of the most famous images of modern
times. This image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995,
shows evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs) emerging from pillars of
molecular hydrogen gas and dust. The giant pillars are light years in
length and are so dense that interior gas contracts gravitationally
to form stars. At each pillars' end, the intense radiation of bright
young stars causes low density material to boil away, leaving stellar
nurseries of dense EGGs exposed. The Eagle Nebula, associated with
the open star cluster M16, lies about 7000 light years away. The
pillars of creation were imaged recently by the orbiting Chandra X-
ray Observatory, and it was found that most EGGS are not strong
emitters of X-rays.

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