A telescope picture of blackness
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was released today by the science team running the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco 4-meter telescope in Chile.
This winding, shadowy form, accentuated by a densely-packed starry background, is the Circinus West molecular cloud — a region rich in gas and dust and known for its host of newly formed stars. Molecular Clouds, the cradles of star formation, are interstellar clouds that are so dense and cold that atoms within them bond with each other to form molecules. Some, such as Circinus West, are so dense that light cannot pass through, giving them a dark, mottled appearance and earning them the name dark nebulae. The cloud’s flourishing population of young stars has offered astronomers a wealth of insight into the processes driving star formation and molecular cloud evolution.
…Circinus West is known for harboring dozens of young stellar objects — stars that are in their early stages of development. Despite being shrouded in dense gas and dust, these infant stars make themselves known. Zooming in, various clues to their presence can be seen dotted throughout Circinus West’s snaking tendrils.
The cloud is about 2,500 light years away and is estimated to be about 180 light years across. Scientists estimate the mass in the cloud to be about 250,000 times that of the Sun.
No one however would ever even know this cloud existed if it wasn’t back dropped by thick field of stars behind it.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was released today by the science team running the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco 4-meter telescope in Chile.
This winding, shadowy form, accentuated by a densely-packed starry background, is the Circinus West molecular cloud — a region rich in gas and dust and known for its host of newly formed stars. Molecular Clouds, the cradles of star formation, are interstellar clouds that are so dense and cold that atoms within them bond with each other to form molecules. Some, such as Circinus West, are so dense that light cannot pass through, giving them a dark, mottled appearance and earning them the name dark nebulae. The cloud’s flourishing population of young stars has offered astronomers a wealth of insight into the processes driving star formation and molecular cloud evolution.
…Circinus West is known for harboring dozens of young stellar objects — stars that are in their early stages of development. Despite being shrouded in dense gas and dust, these infant stars make themselves known. Zooming in, various clues to their presence can be seen dotted throughout Circinus West’s snaking tendrils.
The cloud is about 2,500 light years away and is estimated to be about 180 light years across. Scientists estimate the mass in the cloud to be about 250,000 times that of the Sun.
No one however would ever even know this cloud existed if it wasn’t back dropped by thick field of stars behind it.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
No one however would ever even know this cloud existed if it wasn’t back dropped by thick field of stars behind it.
That throws out the “if the universe were infinite, the night sky would be white” argument. In an infinite universe, there would be room for a lot of stuff blocking light. Note that I’m not advocating the idea, just pointing out that the argument has holes (or anti-holes/blockages, I suppose).