Seriously: plus or minus the ability of the human brain to see patterns whether they exist or not (cf. the Face on Mars), these are some great images from a remarkable instrument. Thanks for the excerpting and explaining.

–Joe

- esp. around the R Coronae Borealis type stars –

For those who don’t already know about R Coronae Borealis (“sooty” / “reverse nova”) variables see :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_Coronae_Borealis_variable

&

http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1996PASP..108..225C&classic=YES

&

http://simostronomy.blogspot.com/2009/10/r-coronae-borealis-update.html

to find out more.

I ended up designing an astronomy-themed wedding invitation. I used the Cassiopean gas cloud heart as well as another classic astronomical heart made from colliding galaxies. In principle I’m willing to share it online at some stage, ..[Snip] .. Is there a demand for it?

I don’t know, there may well be. A niche one but, yeah it sounds great. If I ever get married I’d certainly love it although I’d have to have approval from the bride!

@3. Keith Hearn & those seeing China replacing the USA in the North America nebula :

Guess it shows how much is in the eye of the beholder!

The human imagination is a marvellous thing and this is an exercise just like looking at pictures in clouds, its amazing what your mind can cretae out of the nebulous cloudy* shapes. I’ve never seen China or the shark in the North America Nebula / W5. Although I might now you’ve suggested it!

@8. Ross asks: So in deep space, what is the distinction between gas and dust?

Same as everyhere else, its all in the phase. Gas is well gas and dust is solid if sometimes exceedingly fine particles.

Also in terms of chemical composition, gas is usually hydrogen and helium (which don’t freeze into solids too frequently) while dust is almost always (?) made of “metallic” elements & compounds in the astronomical sense of the word ie. neither H or He! Yeah, I’m sure the chemists hate that!

I’m not entirely sure but I think that interstellar dust while often particles of metals and carbon “soot” – esp. around the R Coronae Borealis type stars – would also include water ice particles so in that sense water is actually dusty! Hence the formation of water-rich comets and the various types of asteroids from this interstellar “dust” when planet formation occurs.

* Yes I *am* aware that “nebulous cloudy” is a tautology.

One question if I may :

The Orion Nebula is one of the largest star birth factories in our galaxy, easily seen to viewers in other galaxies (assuming there are any). It’s a wonderful circumstance that we have front-row seats to it – it’s a mere 1350 light years away or so, making it the nearest such large-scale structure.

Versus the Rho Ophiuchi region near Antares :

the region of sky around the star Rho Ophiuchi, an area of the galaxy rich in gas and dust. This star forming factory is only about 400 light years away, making it one of the closest and best-studied objects in the sky.

Doesn’t that make the Rho Ophiuchi star-forming complex “the nearest such large-scale structure? Or is the Rho Ophiuchi region toomuch smaller to count here?

I work in graphic design, and do a combination of genuine production jobs and training exercises, mostly the former now that I’ve been there for a while.

Some time ago, I did a wedding invitation based on a client’s specifications. When I’d finished, there wasn’t any new work for me to do, so the training supervisor suggested that I re-do the wedding invitation freeform, just for the practice.

We talked about it for a bit, as I wanted some spark of inspiration to get me started. The training supervisor mentioned in passing that one would obviously not use an astronomy theme on a wedding invitation.

Contrarian that I am, I argued that one might well do so if, say, the couple to be married met at an astronomy club. The training supervisor conceded, and so I ended up designing an astronomy-themed wedding invitation. I used the Cassiopean gas cloud heart as well as another classic astronomical heart made from colliding galaxies.

In principle I’m willing to share it online at some stage, but obviously I would have to create an anonymised version first, seeing as I used the same personal details as from the real job. Is there a demand for it?

It’s fun to identify a star (or any light source) in Image #1, put a finger on your monitor, and see what it becomes in Image #2. Of course the reverse also works.