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Fourth annual Irish Sound, Science and Technology Convocation (ISSTC 2014) at Maynooth University, 28-29 August 2014.
The infrared portrait of the Small Magellanic Cloud, taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, reveals the stars and dust in this galaxy as never seen before. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a nearby satellite galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy, approximately 200,000 light-years away..
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The image shows the main body of the Small Magellanic Cloud, which is comprised of the "bar" and "wing" on the left and the "tail" extending to the right. The bar contains both old stars (in blue) and young stars lighting up their natal dust (green/red). The wing mainly contains young stars. The tail contains only gas, dust and newly formed stars. Spitzer data has confirmed that the tail region was recently torn off the main body of the galaxy. Two of the tail clusters, which are still embedded in their birth clouds, can be seen as red dots..
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In addition, the image contains a galactic globular cluster in the lower left (blue cluster of stars) and emission from dust in our own galaxy (green in the upper right and lower right corners)..
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The data in this image are being used by astronomers to study the lifecycle of dust in the entire galaxy: from the formation in stellar atmospheres, to the reservoir containing the present day interstellar medium, and the dust consumed in forming new stars. The dust being formed in old, evolved stars (blue stars with a red tinge) is measured using mid-infrared wavelengths. The present day interstellar dust is weighed by measuring the intensity and color of emission at longer infrared wavelengths. The rate at which the raw material is being consumed is determined by studying ionized gas regions and the younger stars (yellow/red extended regions). The Small Magellanic Cloud, and its companion galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud, are the two galaxies where this type of study is possible, and the research could not be done without Spitzer..
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This image was captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer (blue is 3.6-micron light; green is 8.0 microns; and red is combination of 24-, 70- and 160-micron light). The blue color mainly traces old stars. The green color traces emission from organic dust grains (mainly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). The red traces emission from larger, cooler dust grains..
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The image was taken as part of the Spitzer Legacy program known as SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Stripped, Low Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud.
The NASA CE318-N Sun Sky photometer at the Mesa Lakes Ranger Station. The multiband photometer operates at daytime and takes optical measurements to provide quantification and physical-optical characterization of the aerosols.
The infrared portrait of the Small Magellanic Cloud, taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, reveals the stars and dust in this galaxy as never seen before. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a nearby satellite galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy, approximately 200,000 light-years away..
.
The image shows the main body of the Small Magellanic Cloud, which is comprised of the "bar" and "wing" on the left and the "tail" extending to the right. The bar contains both old stars (in blue) and young stars lighting up their natal dust (green/red). The wing mainly contains young stars. The tail contains only gas, dust and newly formed stars. Spitzer data has confirmed that the tail region was recently torn off the main body of the galaxy. Two of the tail clusters, which are still embedded in their birth clouds, can be seen as red dots..
.
In addition, the image contains a galactic globular cluster in the lower left (blue cluster of stars) and emission from dust in our own galaxy (green in the upper right and lower right corners)..
.
The data in this image are being used by astronomers to study the lifecycle of dust in the entire galaxy: from the formation in stellar atmospheres, to the reservoir containing the present day interstellar medium, and the dust consumed in forming new stars. The dust being formed in old, evolved stars (blue stars with a red tinge) is measured using mid-infrared wavelengths. The present day interstellar dust is weighed by measuring the intensity and color of emission at longer infrared wavelengths. The rate at which the raw material is being consumed is determined by studying ionized gas regions and the younger stars (yellow/red extended regions). The Small Magellanic Cloud, and its companion galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud, are the two galaxies where this type of study is possible, and the research could not be done without Spitzer..
.
This image was captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer (blue is 3.6-micron light; green is 8.0 microns; and red is combination of 24-, 70- and 160-micron light). The blue color mainly traces old stars. The green color traces emission from organic dust grains (mainly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). The red traces emission from larger, cooler dust grains..
.
The image was taken as part of the Spitzer Legacy program known as SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Stripped, Low Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud.
Cradle of Cosmic Beginnings — The Embryo Nebula (NGC 1333)
In the quiet vastness of the Perseus Molecular Cloud, NGC 1333 — the Embryo Nebula — stirs with the breath of creation.
Glowing softly in hues of blue and amber, this reflection nebula shelters newborn stars wrapped in cocoons of cosmic dust. Their faint light dances through veils of interstellar mist, whispering stories of stellar infancy. Captured over five patient nights at Desert Bloom Observatory, this image gathers 88 frames of 600-second exposures — a tapestry woven from light and time. Every pixel speaks of formation, turbulence, and renewal — a glimpse into the universe’s eternal cycle of birth and becoming.
NGC 1333, located roughly 960 light-years away in the constellation Perseus, is a dense star-forming region within the Perseus Molecular Cloud Complex. It is dominated by reflection nebulosity — dust illuminated by young, hot stars — and marked by dark filaments and Herbig–Haro objects, where stellar jets collide with surrounding gas. The region teems with protostars, brown dwarfs, and protoplanetary disks, representing one of the most dynamic laboratories for studying early stellar evolution. The nebula’s distinctive structure resembles an embryo in a cosmic womb — a symbol of the universe’s relentless creativity.
Imaging Details:
Location: Desert Bloom Observatory, St. David, Arizona, USA
Telescope: Celestron Nexstar Evo 9.25" (235mm f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain)
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ-6R Pro Computerized Equatorial Mount S30300
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Guide Scope: ZWO 30F4 MiniScope
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI462MC Planetary Camera
Accessories: Starizona HyperStar 4 HS4-C9.25 White 10014, Starizona Telrad Reflex Sight, ZWO Electronic Automatic Focuser (EAF-5V), ZWO ASIAir Plus WiFi Controller, Optolong L-Pro 2” Multiband Pass Filter
Exposure: 88 frames × 600 sec (5 nights)
Processing: DeepSkyStacker, PixInsight, Adobe Photoshop
Captured with: Samsung Smartphone (control and monitoring)
This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Helix nebula, a cosmic starlet often photographed by amateur astronomers for its vivid colors and eerie resemblance to a giant eye.
The nebula, located about 700 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, belongs to a class of objects called planetary nebulae. Discovered in the 18th century, these cosmic butterflies were named for their resemblance to gas-giant planets.
Planetary nebulae are actually the remains of stars that once looked a lot like our sun.
When sun-like stars die, they puff out their outer gaseous layers. These layers are heated by the hot core of the dead star, called a white dwarf, and shine with infrared and visible-light colors. Our own sun will blossom into a planetary nebula when it dies in about five billion years.
In Spitzer's infrared view of the Helix nebula, the eye looks more like that of a green monster's. Infrared light from the outer gaseous layers is represented in blues and greens. The white dwarf is visible as a tiny white dot in the center of the picture. The red color in the middle of the eye denotes the final layers of gas blown out when the star died.
The brighter red circle in the very center is the glow of a dusty disk circling the white dwarf (the disk itself is too small to be resolved). This dust, discovered by Spitzer's infrared heat-seeking vision, was most likely kicked up by comets that survived the death of their star. Before the star died, its comets and possibly planets would have orbited the star in an orderly fashion. But when the star blew off its outer layers, the icy bodies and outer planets would have been tossed about and into each other, resulting in an ongoing cosmic dust storm. Any inner planets in the system would have burned up or been swallowed as their dying star expanded.
The Helix nebula is one of only a few dead-star systems in which evidence for comet survivors has been found.
This image is made up of data from Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer. Blue shows infrared light of 3.6 to 4.5 microns; green shows infrared light of 5.8 to 8 microns; and red shows infrared light of 24 microns.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Ariz.
The NASA CE318-N Sun Sky photometer at the Mesa Lakes Ranger Station. The multiband photometer operates at daytime and takes optical measurements to provide quantification and physical-optical characterization of the aerosols.
Zenith Trans-Oceanic Model 8600 Sliderule Dial Radio, Leatherette case, Multiband push button/knobs, "Wave-magnet", Made in Canada
The fortieth annual Multibands concert series took place this October 4th and 5th. It showcased 15 music, choral, and dance ensembles. Photo by Bryn Rothschild-Shea
The destructive results of a mighty supernova explosion reveal themselves in a delicate blend of infrared and X-ray light, as seen in this image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton. The bubbly cloud is an irregular shock wave, generated by a supernova that would have been witnessed on Earth 3,700 years ago. The remnant itself, called Puppis A, is around 7,000 light-years away, and the shock wave is about 10 light-years across. The pastel hues in this image reveal that the infrared and X-ray structures trace each other closely. Warm dust particles are responsible for most of the infrared light wavelengths, assigned red and green colors in this view. Material heated by the supernova’s shock wave emits X-rays, which are colored blue. Regions where the infrared and X-ray emissions blend together take on brighter, more pastel tones. The shock wave appears to light up as it slams into surrounding clouds of dust and gas that fill the interstellar space in this region. From the infrared glow, astronomers have found a total quantity of dust in the region equal to about a quarter of the mass of our sun. Data collected from Spitzer’s infrared spectrograph reveal how the shock wave is breaking apart the fragile dust grains that fill the surrounding space. Supernova explosions forge the heavy elements that can provide the raw material from which future generations of stars and planets will form. Studying how supernova remnants expand into the galaxy and interact with other material provides critical clues into our own origins. Infrared data from Spitzer’s multiband imaging photometer (MIPS) at wavelengths of 24 and 70 microns are rendered in green and red. X-ray data from XMM-Newton spanning an energy range of 0.3 to 8 kiloelectron volts are shown in blue. Credit: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC/IAFE via NASA 1.usa.gov/X0NLWC