Tag Archives: Chandra

NASA – We Found The Fat One!

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El Gordo, the fat one, was finally captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Hubble image of the most massive cluster of galaxies ever seen to exist

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Jee (University of California, Davis)

A galaxy cluster skirting the edge of the Universe 9.7 billion light-years away, El Gordo has attempted to evade capture, measurement and having its mug shot taken since it was first detected in January 2012.

Authorities at NASA credit the capture to a variety of informants including Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope array in Paranal, Chile.

Due to El Gordo’s massive weight, about 3 million billion times the mass of our sun, it couldn’t escape scientific detectives for long.  By measuring how much El Gordo’s gravity warps images of galaxies in the distant background, a team of astronomical flatfoots calculated the cluster’s mass.

But El Gordo isn’t a solo act.  Science gumshoes had information that  El Gordo was the result of a titanic collision between a pair of galaxy clusters — an event described as two cosmic cannonballs hitting each other.

So this is the end for El Gordo…for now.  Strange occurrences in the area have detectives ever vigilant for more clues to find the big bosses, the king pins of cosmic crimes against the Universe…dark matter and dark energy.  Stay tuned.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California and I am a Rising Star as rated by Super Lawyers Magazine.  As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

Lost in space.

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Who could forget that classic SciFi family drama/sitcom, Lost in Space.

A helpful robot pet, the naive wunderkind, a wascally professor, mom and dad, the eye candy brothers and sisters and the strapping captain to save the day (of course if he really wanted to save the day he would have found a way home, and don’t get me started on Gilligan’s Island).

No, today’s images really do come from space.  New images abound from Spitzer and Hubble and a host of other imaging apparatus that are expanding our understanding of the Universe and ourselves.  Enjoy.

This NASA Chandra X-Ray Observatory image shows a highly distorted supernova remnant that may contain the most recent black hole formed in the Milky Way galaxy. The composite image combines X-rays from Chandra (blue and green), radio data from the Very Large Array (pink), and infrared data from the Palomar Observatory (yellow). Most supernova explosions that destroy massive stars are generally symmetrical. In the W49B supernova, however, it appears that the material near its poles was ejected at much higher speeds than that at its equator. There is also evidence that the explosion that produced W49B left behind a black hole and not a neutron star like most other supernovas. (Photo by L. Lopez/MIT/CXC/NASA via AFP Photo)

This Chandra X-Ray Observatory image shows a highly distorted supernova remnant, aptly name W49B, that might be home to what scientists believe is the most recent black hole formed in the Milky Way. I don’t see it…no really I don’t.

An infrared portrait from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope which shows generations of stars is seen in this undated NASA handout image released February 14, 2013. In this wispy star-forming region, called W5, the oldest stars can be seen as blue dots in the centers of the two hollow cavities (other blue dots are background and foreground stars not associated with the region). Red shows heated dust that pervades the region's cavities, while green highlights dense clouds. (Photo by NASA/Reuters/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smithsonian/Handout)

This new infrared image taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope shows a star-forming region, called W5.  Clearly, we need better names here NASA!

This National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) image of the Planetary Nebula Sh2-174, which may suggest a rose to some, was obtained with Mosaic 1 camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Arizona January 8, 2013. A planetary nebula is created when a low-mass star blows off its outer layers at the end of its life. The core of the star remains and is called a white dwarf. Photo was captured January 8, 2013. (Photo by T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker/NASA/Reuters)

Just in time for Mother’s Day is this image of the Planetary Nebula Sh2-174 (C’mon Man!) taken at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO).  Looks like a lovely rose for mom.

Not to be confused with the Rossetta Nebula (much better than Caldwell 49).

Or stellar region NGC 604 (M33).  I may have to try to take this image, because summer time is galaxy time!  Of course my image will be so much better than this Hubble image that I would not dare post it for fear of embarrassing NASA.

This image by Hubble shows what happens “When World’s Collide!” Actually NGC 6745 is what happens when galaxies collide, but I had to keep up with the old SciFi schtick, my readers demand nothing less than good SciFi schtick.

This image is NGC 6543 known as the Cat's Eye Nebula as it appears to the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Hubble Telescope. A planetary nebula is a phase of stellar evolution that the sun should experience several billion years from now, when it expands to become a red giant and then sheds most of its outer layers, leaving behind a hot core that contracts to form a dense white dwarf star. This image was released October 10, 2012. (Photo by J. Kastner/NASA/CXC/RIT)

This excellent image of the Cat’s Eye nebula (NGC 6543) is a collaborative effort between Chandra and Hubble.  See what happens when space telescopes play nice with each other.

Next week is all about mom.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney.  As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities.  Connect with me on Google +

Norman