Basic Information What is this? The star 61 Virginis, which is surrounded by a disk of dust material Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Virgo How big is it? The debris disc stretches up to 100 times further from the star than the Earth is from the Sun How far away …
Author archives: chrisnorth
Gliese 581
Basic Information What is this? The star Gleise 581, which is surrounded by a disk of dust material Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Libra How big is it? The debris disc stretches up to 60 times further from the star than the Earth is from the Sun How far away …
Supernova Remnant W44
Basic Information What is this? A region where stars are forming, which also includes the remnant of a massive star that exploded in a supernova Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Aquila How big is it? The supernova remnant is about 100 light years across How far away is it? Around …
Herschel’s Final Destination: The Moon?
Update from ESA: This is the final decision taken by ESA management after a careful evaluation of the cost and benefits of such a use of the spacecraft in early 2013, when Herschel will run out of helium and the mission will come to an end. The Herschel spacecraft will instead be “parked” indefinitely in …
DR21 Ridge
Basic Information What is this? A ridge of gas and dust along which massive stars are forming Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Cygnus How big is it? The ridge is about 13 light years long How far away is it? Around 4500 light years away What do the colours represent? …
Cygnus X
Basic Information What is this? A region of the sky called Cygnus X Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Cygnus How big is it? The region is several hundred light years across How far away is it? Around 4500 light years What do the colours represent? Bluer material is warmer, being …
Carina Nebula
Basic Information What is this? A massive cloud of gas and dust in which stars are forming Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Carina How big is it? The image shows a region around 300 across, which contains enough gas and dust to make almost a million Suns How far away …
Chandra Deep Field North
Basic Information What is this? A patch of sky containing thousands of distant galaxies Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Ursa Major How big is it? The patch of sky ins less than the area of the Full Moon as seen in the sky How far away is it? The galaxies …
Bootes Field
Basic Information What is this? A patch of sky containing thousands of distant galaxies Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Boötes How big is it? It coverse around 40 times the area of the Full Moon How far away is it? The galaxies are seen as they were between 3 and …
Fomalhaut A
Basic Information What is this? The star Formalhaut, which is surrounded by a ring of dust Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Piscis Austrinus How big is it? The diameter of the dust ring is more than two hundred times the distance from Earth to the Sun How far away is …