File:Ssc2004-18a.jpg
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Summary edit
A "monster" lurking behind a blanket of cosmic dust is unveiled in this new Halloween image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Resembling a ghoul with two hollow eyes and a screaming mouth, this masked cloud of newborn stars was uncovered by Spitzer's heat-seeking infrared eyes.
The spooky cloud -- a nebula called "DR 6" residing in the plane of our Milky Way galaxy -- is home to a cluster of about 10 massive newborn stars, ranging in size from 10 to 20 times the mass of our Sun. The nebular "eyes" and "mouth" were carved out by intense heat and winds, which shoot outward from the stars (located in the central bar or "nose"). The green material remaining in the eyes and mouth is comprised of gas, while the red regions and tendrils beyond make up the dusty cloud that originally gave birth to the young stars.
Within the nebula's nose, a second generation of stars is in the process of forming. These stars, in turn, will sculpt their stellar nursery, and ultimately affect the birth of yet another generation of stars. Spitzer provides astronomers with an unprecedented combination of sensitivity and spatial resolution to study this cycle in detail.
DR 6 is located 3,900 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The distance from one end of its central bar to the other is the about 3.5 light-years, or about the same distance from our Sun to its nearest neighbor, Alpha Centauri.
This image composite was taken on Nov. 27, 2003, by Spitzer's infrared array camera. It is composed of images obtained at four wavelengths: 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange) and 8 microns (red).
Original upload log edit
DescriptionSsc2004-18a.jpg | 'Galactic Ghoul' Rears Its Spooky Head |
Date | |
Source | http://gallery.spitzer.caltech.edu/Imagegallery/image.php?image_name=ssc2004-18a |
Author | NASA/JPL-Caltech/S.Carey (Caltech) |
Permission (Reusing this file) |
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/mediaimages/copyright.shtml |
Individual images edit
see http://gallery.spitzer.caltech.edu/Imagegallery/image.php?image_name=ssc2004-18a High quality tif files also avaliable.
Licensing edit
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) | ||
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Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
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current | 18:26, 9 July 2007 | 1,200 × 1,500 (959 KB) | Anzibanonzi (talk | contribs) | ==Sumary== A "monster" lurking behind a blanket of cosmic dust is unveiled in this new Halloween image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Resembling a ghoul with two hollow eyes and a screaming mouth, this masked cloud of newborn stars was uncovered by |
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This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.
Image title | RA = 20h27m13.39s Dec = 39d26m33.1s
0.61 asec/pixel, 9.8x13.8 arcmin CROT = -58.7, North is 30.7 deg CCW from up (after adjustment) |
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Orientation | Normal |
Horizontal resolution | 300 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 300 dpi |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop 7.0 |
File change date and time | 16:05, 27 October 2004 |
Color space | Uncalibrated |