Hubble captures moment when a geriatric star dies in a puff of green smoke

[Ulysses31]

That's how I wanna go out

Hubble captures moment when a geriatric star dies in a puff of green smoke


Teetering on the edge of this mass of stars is a little green puff that has intrigued astronomers.

The picture, from the Hubble telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys, shows the life and death of a star.

Posted on Hubble's website yesterday, the 2006 image captures the globular cluster NGC 1846.

Intriguing: This picture from Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys shows the globular cluster NGC 1846. The inset photo focuses in on the planetary nebula at the edge of the picture


This group of glittering stars are in the outer halo of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbouring dwarf galaxy of the Milky Way that can be seen from the southern hemisphere.

The distance from Earth has been calculated as 160,000 light years.

The Hubble team says the green tinge on display is the glowing shell of gas created when a dying star puffs away its outer layers.

Scientists studying the picture are not yet sure whether the bubble is part of the cluster - but all indications suggest it is.

A Nasa spokesman said: 'The burned-out central star can be seen inside the bubble.

'It is uncertain whether the planetary nebula is a member of NGC 1846, or simply lies along the line of sight to the cluster.

'Measurements of the motion of the cluster stars and the planetary nebula's central star suggest it might be a cluster member.'



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...en-signals-life-death-star.html#ixzz1ecWIs8e8

 

[StanScratch]

Bloody cool - that telescope has scientifically paid for itself long ago - but even more so with some great pictures.
And while that little green spot looks beautiful and harmless and all that, its destructive power is greater than anything we can imagine.

 

[Mr. Daystar]

this stuff just boggles my mind. I can't even begine to imaging, how much, and what is out there. I just don't understand how anyone can think, we are the only ones in the universe....maybe never visited, but certainly not alone.

 

[gunslingingbird]

I thought this thread was gonna be about Keith Richards setting himself on fire with his bong. I'll be moving along now.

 

[DR. B]

And while that little green spot looks beautiful and harmless and all that, its destructive power is greater than anything we can imagine.

can you imagine CY Canis Majoris blowing up