journey to the edge of the universe
DESCRIPTION
This was my submission to the celebration of "Universal year of Astronomy - 2009" and since the year is coming to an end, i decided to publish this to all of you as a memory of all the best things about 2009.Hope you all find it informative and worth your time! In case, you wanted a download, just leave a comment!TRANSCRIPT
Journey to the EDGE
of the universe
No sooner have we left earth, we reach the infinite realms of zillions of stars…
But, before we proceed, here’s a little fact or rather a question… how do stars die?
How does a star die?
As a white dwarf
Stars with less than eight solar masses end their lives in this way.
In the form of a supernova
Denser stars end in this way. It forms neutron stars and pulsars
As a black hole
If the mass of the central core is more than three suns, it becomes a black hole.
White dwarfs are stars that have burned up all of the hydrogen they once used as nuclear fuel. About 1,600 light-years away, two dense white dwarfs in the J0806 binary star system orbit each other once every 321 seconds. When they reach the end of their long evolutions, smaller stars typically become white dwarfs.
Our first actual destination on our journey to the unknown are within
our mother, the milky way galaxy, vast and
beautiful, what secrets, wonders and dangers
does she have in store for us?
We are now entering the most beautiful part of the universe… the palette of infinite nebula’s…
The region around the star Rho Ophiuci displays a rich mixture of all types of nebulae, 1 – a dark nebulae made of dust which blocks the light of the stars behind it, 2 – blue nebulae that reflect the light of the stars, 3 - hot gas nebulae that have the characteristic pink color, 4 – globular star cluster.
1
2
3
4
The star
The familiar eyeball shape of “The Helix Nebula” shows only two dimensions of this complex celestial body. But new observations suggest it may actually be composed of two gaseous disks nearly perpendicular to each other.
“The Cat's Eye Nebula” contains some of the most complex gas formations astronomers have ever seen, including concentric shells, high-speed jets, and unusual shock-induced knots. Some scientists think the nebula's intricate structures suggest it is a double-star system.
“The horsehead nebula” ……… it’s easy to see how it got its name…
7000 light years from homeAnd the journey feels safe, what with such a beautiful display
of colors and artistic talents... but theUniverse is not just this, the distance we have
Travelled is just a tiny speck in its vastness, and we’re about to find its proof...
What we are now witnessing is a a rare celestial phenomenon called a supernova. Brace yourself for it is literally the
explosion of most of the material in a star, resulting in an extremely bright, short-lived object that emits vast amounts of
energy.
Located 163,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the remnants of Supernova 1987 resemble a one-light-year-wide pearl necklace.
These bright spots are pieces of debris shed thousands of years ago and illuminated by the shock wave when the star exploded.
The two bright objects that look like car headlights are a pair of stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
We are now ready to leave milky way galaxy and enter intergalactic space…
Over here, amidst the intergalactic halo and the deafening silence of deep space, we find
the unknown, THE DARK MATTER
Measurements made by astronauts tell us that there is more matter in our galaxy.
Nearly 90% of the universe is made up of this invisible matter. But what’s the proof?
Magellanic clouds are supposed to spin off to space but they’re not; indicating the presence of
the invisible force
In a still image the collision might now look that clear but if you notice carefully, what you are looking at is EXPLOSION OF
A GALAXY! This can only be possible by another galaxy and the collision
will create more galaxies, this is a destruction leading to creation…
Having witnessed so many wonders, it’s easy to see why the universe fascinates us… but I’m not done… not yet… there is
one more danger that lurks in the corners, one that could jeopardize this entire
journey… QUASARS.
Quasars are the most brightest, most distant and fastest moving objects visible outside the milky way galaxy.
Thousands of these are known for their bright swirling cauldron of hot gasses each emitting a huge amount of
energy. But what is their source? Their heart of darkness i.e. their core is generally a massive black hole.
X- Ray image of a black hole
This image taken in 1999 with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows what astronomers believe is a supernova remnant interacting with the super massive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy. Scientists theorized that the shock wave created when it went supernova (bright yellow and orange tones) compressed and pushed gas into the gluttonous black hole (white dot within shock wave) creating a period of intense feeding followed by a period of "starvation."
From earth…
Through the infinite field of stars…
Abandoning the safety of our home,…
Witnessing the beauty of space…
Surviving explosions…
And quasars…
We have finally made it to THE EDGE…
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** A sweet friend **