Science
Related: About this forumThe Flaming Skull Nebula.
By Phil Plait
Photo by T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF)
Planetary nebulae are among my favorite objects in the sky. When a star a bit more massive than the Sun starts to die, it blows off a super solar wind of gas. As it ages more, this wind it blows speeds up, slamming into the stuff previously ejected, carving it into weird and amazing shapes. Eventually, the entire outer layers of the star blow off, exposing the stars hot, dense core. This floods the surrounding gas with ultraviolet light, causing it to glow.
Once it starts to emit light, the gas cloud becomes visible to us on Earth, and we can see the weird forms it can take. This structure can be quite fantastic, depending on how exactly the star was spinning as it blew off those winds, what angle we see this at, and the chemical composition of the gas.
In the case of the planetary nebula Sh2-68, though, we have an added factor: motion. The star at the heart of this nebula is moving rapidly through space, and it happens to be in a location in our galaxy where there is more gas and dust between stars than usual. So as it moves, the gas it blows off is itself blown back, like a dogs hair is blown back when it sticks its head out of a car window.
The image above, taken by my friend Travis Rector using the KPNO 4-meter telescope, shows this in detail. The blue gas is oxygen (which is slightly false-color here; this flavor of oxygen is actually more greenish), and the red is hydrogen. The star itself is the blue one right in the center of the blue gas.
I could go into great detail about the overall shape of the gas, the cavities in it, the actually quite interesting physics of how the gas interacts with the interstellar gas
but cmon. Seriously.
The nebula looks like a giant screaming head with its hair aflame streaking across the galaxy!
more
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/06/28/planetary_nebula_sh2_68_the_flaming_skull_nebula.html
sakabatou
(42,148 posts)burrowowl
(17,638 posts)Ghost Riders in the Sky
Beautiful pic!
sakabatou
(42,148 posts)OnyxCollie
(9,958 posts)"It is of no concern to the Ghost Rider."
Ghost Rider didn't have any great lines, but he was my favorite regardless.
sakabatou
(42,148 posts)OnyxCollie
(9,958 posts)I don't get it.
sakabatou
(42,148 posts)OnyxCollie
(9,958 posts)"That's my __?"
If I got it, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with it.
sakabatou
(42,148 posts)For instance, if my cat wore glasses and was sitting at the piano, I'd make the meme, "That's my cat." I do wear glasses and play the piano.
OnyxCollie
(9,958 posts)Thanks for explaining it to me. This meme will now provide me seconds of entertainment.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)Stone Cold Steve Austin's "smoking skull" championship belt.
eppur_se_muova
(36,259 posts)tclambert
(11,085 posts)allan01
(1,950 posts)lovely nebula
classof56
(5,376 posts)Never knew Burl Ives sang it, but I do recall listening to Vaughn Monroe belt it out on my little radio a few decades ago. Man I'm gettin' old!
Thanks for posting. And the Flaming Skull is a lovely Nebula indeed.
DhhD
(4,695 posts)I would love to learn more. n2doc-Can you private message me with more about this star as it is not in nova or supernova.
Gore1FL
(21,127 posts)Thank you for doing so. I often just come to DU, look the LBN, see what's trending, cool, etc, and then go to the greatest page and search your handle.
Thanks, again!
yends21012
(228 posts)...but before I read what it was actually called, I thought it looked like Superman's symbol of hope speeding through the cosmos.
KansDem
(28,498 posts)...a very angry flaming PacMan.
ThoughtCriminal
(14,047 posts)SHEEEEE-EIGHT!