Planetary Nebulae

http://davidstestingground.com/Novice%20talk%20on%20PNe%20V-V%20classification.pdf

This a powerpoint that covers all of the different types of planetary nebulae. It goes in depth on how each one is formed and where they exist. Some specific ones include NGC 6578, NGC 3918, and Abell 39. 

NGC 6578

NGC 3918

Abell 39

These are some popular planetary nebula's that exist in our universe. The Hubble has taken many of the pictures above.

APOD 3.6

On Mars, the Curiosity Rover that recently landed there is still going strong and has not encountered malfunctions as of yet. Many pictures have been taken of the landscape there and that includes the Yellowknife Bay region of the Gale Crater. The picture above is of that site and it is clear that it extends hundreds of miles and is very deep. Pictures like these are able to be taken from a specialized camera on the rover. This is one of the many self portraits that have been taken by the rover and sent back to Earth and it is a truly amazing sight.

Star Formation

This is an interstellar cloud, as it begins to collapse the formation of a star begins

This is called cloud fragmentation, and it is the next step in the formation of a star. The gravity is increasing in the middle pulling the rest together. 

This is a protostar that made it through the first steps of formation. 

This is a formed star that has finally formed and begun fusion. At this point, it is essentially starting to die. 

APOD 3.5

Some special auroras can only be seen with special cameras, not just with naked eye. These auroras are called subvisal and they appear all over the world. Certain colors of auroras are more easily seen but some require the special cameras. The human eye does not collect light at the speed necessary to see all of the different colors in the spectrum Subvisal auroras are very common in Alaska which is where the picture above comes from. Thousands of stars are visible and the galaxy is full of wonders like these.

APOD 3.4

Pictured above is Barnard's galaxy. It is not grand spiral galaxy, the most popular type, that clearly shows the bright blue color supplied by many young stars, but a smaller galaxy that also forms stars. It is relatively close to the constellation called Sagittarius, only 1.5 million light years a way, one of the members of our lockal group of galaxies. Only 7.000 light years across it is classified as a dwarf galaxy filled with the pink hydrogen glow and also the blue light. This image was very well taken and does not filter any colors and because of the closeness of the galaxy most of the colors and detail show up.

Astro Assignment Feb. 4

APOD 3.3

Pictured above is the comet McNaught. It has been the most cooperative comet regarding photography in the recent years so there are many great pictures. It made an impression in early 2007 when the comet was seen having an extra long dust tail, something abnormal. Here it is shown above Chile, where the bright comet takes up the entire picture. It is one of the few comets that one is able to track with the naked eye because of its especially long tail. It is one of the brightest comets ever seen by astronomers and will continue to be visible later in the year and also in the future.