Astronomy

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_1101 IC 1101 is a supergiant elliptical galaxy at the center of the Abell 2029 galaxy cluster . It is 1.07 billion light years away in the constellation of Virgo and is classified as a cD class of galaxy . It was discovered in June 19, 1790 by William Herschel . [ edit ] Size

IC 1101

Homunculus Nebula

The Homunculus Nebula is an emission nebula surrounding the massive star system Eta Carinae . The nebula is embedded within the much larger Eta Carinae Nebula , an ionized hydrogen (H II) region . The Homunculus (from the Latin meaning Little Man ) is believed to have been ejected in an enormous outburst from Eta Carinae. Light from this event reached Earth in 1841, creating a brightening event in the night sky which was visible from the Earth's surface at the time. During the event (as seen from Earth) Eta Carinae briefly became the second-brightest star in the sky, after Sirius ; but the ejected gas and dust have since obscured much of its light. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homunculus_Nebula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1036_Ganymed 1036 Ganymed is the largest Amor asteroid , at about 32 km in diameter. [ 4 ] It was discovered by Walter Baade on October 23, 1924. It has a very well determined orbit, and its next pass of the Earth will be at a distance of 0.374097 AU (55,964,100 km ; 34,774,500 mi ) on 13 October 2024. [ 7 ] It is also a Mars-crosser asteroid , and will pass 0.02868 AU (4,290,000 km; 2,666,000 mi) from Mars on 16 December 2176. [ 7 ] [ edit ] Name

1036 Ganymed

Sirius

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus , the next brightest star . The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek : Σείριος Seirios ("glowing" or "scorcher"). The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris (α CMa).

Oort cloud

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oort_cloud An artist's rendering of the Oort cloud and the Kuiper belt (inset). Sizes of individual objects have been exaggerated for visibility. The Oort cloud / ˈ ɔr t / [ 1 ] (named after Jan Oort ), or Öpik–Oort cloud , [ 2 ] is a hypothesized spherical cloud of predominantly icy planetesimals that may lie roughly 50,000 AU , or nearly a light-year , from the Sun . [ 3 ] This places the cloud at nearly a quarter of the distance to Proxima Centauri , the nearest star to the Sun. The Kuiper belt and the scattered disc , the other two reservoirs of trans-Neptunian objects , are less than one thousandth of the Oort cloud's distance. The outer limit of the Oort cloud defines the cosmographical boundary of the Solar System and the region of the Sun's gravitational dominance. [ 4 ] The Oort cloud is thought to comprise two separate regions: a spherical outer Oort cloud and a disc-shaped inner Oort cloud, or Hills cloud .

Eagle Nebula

A view of the stellar spire within M16, the Eagle Nebula. The Eagle Nebula (catalogued as Messier 16 or M16 , and as NGC 6611 , and also known as the Star Queen Nebula ) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens , discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745-46. Its name derives from its shape that is thought to resemble an eagle . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Nebula
The "Pillars of Creation" from the Eagle Nebula. "Pillars of Creation" is a photograph taken by the Hubble Telescope of elephant trunks of interstellar gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula , some 7,000 light years from Earth. [ 1 ] They are so named because the gas and dust are in the process of creating new stars, while also being eroded by the light from nearby stars that have recently formed. [ 2 ] Taken April 1, 1995, it was named one of the top ten photographs from the Hubble by Space.com . [ 3 ] The astronomers responsible for the photo were Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen , at the time both of Arizona State University . In 2011, the region was revisited by ESA 's Herschel Space Observatory . [ edit ] Composition The pillars are composed of cool molecular hydrogen and dust that are being eroded by photoevaporation from the ultraviolet light of relatively close and hot stars . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillars_of_Creation

Pillars of Creation