Stars

Image of the Ring Nebula obtained combining observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Large Binocular Telescope (Image NASA, ESA, C.R. Robert O’Dell (Vanderbilt University), G.J. Ferland (University of Kentucky), W.J. Henney and M. Peimbert (National Autonomous University of Mexico), David Thompson (University of Arizona))

0

The Hubble Space Telescope gave us the most detailed observations ever obtained of the Ring Nebula. It’s a well known nebula but it still had some secrets. Now it’s been possible to build a three-dimensional model which includes the surrounding region by combining observations taken using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 with other ones such as the infrared ones from the Telescope Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) on Mount Graham, Arizona, and the spectroscopic data from the San Pedro Martir Observatory in Mexico.

Comparison between the Kepler-62 system and our internal solar system (Image NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech)

2

Thanks to NASA’s Kepler space telescope it’s been discovered that the star Kepler-62, approximately 1,200 light-years from the Sun, has five planets and the star Kepler-69, approximately 2,700 light-years from the Sun, has two planets. The most interesting news is that two of Kepler-62 planets and one of Kepler-69 planets are probably of the rocky type and their orbit is within the habitable zone of those solar systems.

Image combining Hubble observations of M 106 with additional information captured by amateur astronomers Robert Gendler and Jay GaBany (Image NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and R. Gendler (for the Hubble Heritage Team). Acknowledgment: J. GaBany)

0

Astro-photographer Robert Gendler put together several photographs of the spiral galaxy M106 (Messier 106, also known as NGC 4258) taken over the years by the Hubble Space Telescope along with those made by him and another astro-photographer, Jay GaBany, to create one of the most remarkable astronomical images ever produced.

Composite colour image of the Herschel PACS 70, 100, 160 micron-wavelength images of the star Betelgeuse and the environment around it (Image ESA/Herschel/PACS/L. Decin et al)

1

A couple of years ago, the star Betelgeuse rose to the spotlight in connection with some pseudo-Mayan prophecies about the end of the world. Now at last we can talk about this star for purely scientific reasons as ESA’s Herschel space observatory allowed to obtain an image that shows how it’s approaching a wall of interstellar dust.