The le' image is an ar/st’s concept of what the Milky Way ......M81 (le') is a spiral galaxy and M82 is an irregular galaxy (though recent studies have shown it does have some spiral

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Thele'imageisanar/st’sconceptofwhattheMilkyWaywouldlooklikefromabove.TherightimageisgalaxyM109,aspiralgalaxythatisthoughttoresembletheMilkyWay.

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Time-lapsevideooftheMilkyWay

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Topview:TheMilkyWayasseeninvisiblelight.Thedarkareasarelanesofdustthatblockoutvisiblelight.BoIomview:AninfraredviewoftheMilkyWay.Thelongerwavelengthinfraredlightisabletopenetratedustverywell,allowingustoseemuchmoreofthestarsinourgalaxy.

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Jupiteranditsfourlargestmoonsasseenthroughadecent-sizedtelescopeonaclearnight.

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ImageofJupiterfromtheCassiniprobeasitpassedtheplanetforagravityassistonitswaytoSaturn.ThelargespotonJupiteristheGreatRedSpot-astormthatis2-3/mesasbigasEarthandthathasbeenobservedforatleast350years.

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AquicksnapshotofJupiterthroughasmalltelescopethathighlightstheeaseofseeingthefourlargestmoons.TheinsetisarecordkeptbyGalileoofthemoonsposi/onsoverthecourseofacoupleofweeks.

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ImagestakenbytheNewHorizonsprobeasitgotagravityassistfromJupiteronitswaytoPluto.TheplumeofTvashtarisseveralhundredkilometershigh.NotethatyoucanseesomeofthenightsideofIoverywellduetolightbeingreflectedfromJupiter.

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Atleastafewofthesemoonsarevisiblethroughadecent-sizedtelescope.Veryclearcondi/onsareneededtobeabletoobserveMimas.

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SaturnasviewedbytheHubbleSpaceTelescope.Theringsarelessthanamilethickbutareabout180,000mileswide.Thegapsintheringsareduetogravita/onalresonanceswithsomeofthemoons.

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Inthespring/me,Orionsetssoona'ersunset.ThelargeredloopofgasaroundthebeltstarsisknownasBarnard’sloopa'erEdwardEmersonBarnard.ThebluestreakneartheboIomrightistheWitchHeadnebula(lookupimagesofit).

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ThemainOrionnebulaisknownasM42,andthemorecircularblobnearthetople'ofthele'imageisM43.Thenebulaisilluminatedbythefourcentralstars,whichareknownastheTrapezium,andareeasilyvisibleintherightimage.Thele'imageisfromtheHubbleSpaceTelescope.

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ThemainimageshowsthefourTrapeziumstarsjusttothele'ofcenter.Theinsetsareprotoplanetarydisks(“Proplyds”),whicharesolarsystemsintheprocessofforming.Thecentralprotostarsarevisibleasredblobsineach.

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ThefamousHorseheadNebulaisthedarksmudgenearthecenteroftheimage.Itisagreatexampleofadarknebula,anebulathathasahighconcentra/onofdustthatblocksoutbackgroundlight.TheredarcofgasthatputstheHorseheadNebulainsilhoueIeisanemissionnebula–thegasisbeingirradiatedbynearbystarsandexcitedsothatitglowsthecharacteris/credofhydrogen.TheliIleblueblobneartheboIomcenterisareflec/onnebula,whichappearsbluebecausedustpreferen/allyscaIersthebluestarlight.Thetwobrighteststarsintheupperhalfoftheimagearethetwole'beltstarsofOrion.

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Discoveredin1858,thiscomettakesabout5.5yearstoorbit.ItsorbittakesitouttotheorbitofJupiter.ThegalaxyneartheupperrightofthetwoimagesisgalaxyM108,andtheblueblobintheboIompartofthele'imageisM97–theOwlNebula.

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M81(le')isaspiralgalaxyandM82isanirregulargalaxy(thoughrecentstudieshaveshownitdoeshavesomespiralstructure).BothareinUrsaMajor,justoffofthebowloftheBigDipper.

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Thisimageshowswhereverycoldhydrogengasislocated.Thistypeofimageshowsthateventhoughthetwogalaxieslookveryseparateinthepreviousimagetheyareinterac/ng.

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Aclose-upofM81.SpiralgalaxieshavearmsdoIedwithbrightblueareas(newlyformed,massive,hotstars)andpinkareas(largecloudsofhydrogengasthatformedthebluestarsandareglowingduetostarlightexci/ngthegas).

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Aclose-upofM82.Thelargeredfilamentsarehugecloudsofhydrogengasthathavebeenblownoutasaresultofhighratesofstarforma/on(highstarforma/onrates=lotsofradia/onpressureandsolarwind).

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SpiralgalaxyM51(le')andacompanionellip/calgalaxyNGC5196asviewedbytheHubbleSpaceTelescope.Thetwogalaxiesareinterac/ng.

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AHubbleSpaceTelescopeviewofM82whileasupernovawasobservedtooccur(inset).AsupernovaoccurssomewhereinagalaxyliketheMilkyWayaboutonceevery50years.

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SupernovaeoccurringinM51in1994,2005(imageshown–notetheyellow/ckmarkshighligh/ngthesupernova),and2011.AsupernovaoccurssomewhereinagalaxyliketheMilkyWayaboutonceevery50years.Thisgalaxyhashadatleastthreesupernovaeintwodecades.

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Le'–awide-angleviewofthethegiantellip/calgalaxyM87.NotethattheothersmudgesintheimagearegalaxiesintheclusterwithM87.Thisgalaxyisabout53millionlight-yearsdistantintheconstella/onVirgo.Right–aHubbleSpaceTelescopeviewoftherela/vis/c(travelingatasignificantfrac/onofthespeedoflight)jetemana/ngfromthesupermassiveblackholeatthecenterofM87.Thisjetisabout5,000light-yearslong.

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TheBeehivecluster,alsoknownasM44orPraesepe.Clusterslikethisaredominatedbyhotbluestars,whichsignifythatitisrela/velyyoungsincehot(massive)starsdon’tlivelonglives.Thesestarsformedtogetheratthesame/me,butastheyorbitthegalaxyandinteractwithotherstarsandnebulae,thestarswilldri'awayfromoneanother.

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Agreatexampleofaplanetarynebula.Thenebulaconsistsoftheouterlayersofthedeadstarthatweresloughedduringitsfinalstagesoflife.Thecentralstar,knownasawhitedwarf,isthecollapsedcoreoftheoriginalstar.Thewhitedwarfiss/llveryhot,maybe50,000Celsius,andisemikngalargeamountofultravioletlight.Thislightgoesoutintothenebulaandexcitestheexpandinggas,causingittoglow.Asthenebulacon/nuestoexpanditwillgrowfainter.

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Agreatexampleofaplanetarynebula.Thenebulaconsistsoftheouterlayersofthedeadstarthatweresloughedduringitsfinalstagesoflife.Thecentralstar,knownasawhitedwarf,isthecollapsedcoreoftheoriginalstar.Thewhitedwarfiss/llveryhot,maybe50,000Celsius,andisemikngalargeamountofultravioletlight.Thislightgoesoutintothenebulaandexcitestheexpandinggas,causingittoglow.Asthenebulacon/nuestoexpanditwillgrowfainter.

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Mostdistantobjectassociatedwithourgalaxythatcanseennakedeye(27,000light-yearsaway).Thistypeofclusterappearsmuchredderbecauseitisveryold–allofthehighermass(hoIerandbluer)starshavedied,leavingbehindthelower-mass,cooler,redderstars.Thereareabout150-200ofthesetypesofclustersinthehalooftheMilkyWay.

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