EYE ON THE SKY
Star-forming regions are unforgiving places where stellar winds can wreak havoc upon the pockets of dust in which new stars emerge
VISTA, 29 AUGUST 2018
The Carina Nebula is one of the largest and most luminous objects in the night sky, although you will not have had a chance to observe it if you’ve never been to the southern hemisphere. Spanning over 300 lightyears, it is one of the largest star-forming regions in the Milky Way and can even be seen with the naked eye under the right conditions.
This image of the Carina Nebula was taken at the Paranal Observatory in the Chilean Atacama desert. The VISTA telescope that captured the image has infrared vision, which enables it to see beyond dark dust and gas and get to the heart of this beautiful nebula.
There’s something of a battle raging in this region. Star formation is a very energetic and chaotic process, and the stars that form from pockets of dust and gas in the nebula emit intense radiation that causes the surrounding gas to glow. But this radiation can also scorch the dusty regions in which stars are born, vapourising the stellar ingredients and denying future generations the chance to flourish.
Magnetic map NASA SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY, 10 AUGUST 2018
The Sun’s magnetic field has a huge effect on our planet. It generates solar flares that can disrupt communications and radio transmissions on Earth, but also produces beautiful aurora displays at the poles. The magnetic field is generated by the movement of plasma, and this NASA image shows a map of its field lines superimposed over an ultraviolet image of the Sun. Note how the field lines are concentrated at the bright, active areas.
Crash course in cosmic chemistry ATACAMA LARGE MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY, GEMINI OBSERVATORY, 30 JULY 2018
This object, known as CK Vulpeculae, is all that remains of a crash between two stars. Here astronomers made the first definitive detection of a radioactive molecule in space; an isotope of aluminium. The detection showed astronomers that molecules forged in the hearts of stars can be flung out into space during stellar collisions.
The cluster and the cool giant HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 6 AUGUST 2018
At the right of this image lies NGC 2108, a gravitationally-bound clump of stars known as a globular cluster, which are thought to be among the oldest celestial objects – almost as old as the Universe itself. NGC 2108, however, formed much more recently, about 600 million years ago. To its left is a cool red giant; a type of star with an atmosphere containing more carbon than oxygen, the opposite of our Sun.
Remains of a stellar explosion SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE, 2 AUGUST 2018
The red tendrils stretching across this image are streams of energised gas left over from an exploded star, known as a supernova remnant. The remnant, named HBH 3, is the cosmic echo of a stellar explosion that may have occurred up to one million years ago, and the red features are likely molecular gas that was hit by a supernova shockwave, causing it to glow in infrared light.