This Valentine’s Day offering is a beautiful picture of a cosmic rosebud, known by astronomers by the less romantic “NGC 7129”. Located in the constellation Cepheus, this beautiful nebula is a stellar nursery. The picture was taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope in December 2003. Although less well known than the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer was designed to complement its better known cousin. Operated through NASA/JPL and Caltech University, Spitzer observes primarily in the infra-red light spectrum, allowing Earth-bound astronomers the ability to see details that are hidden when using conventional telescope equipment.
NGC 7129 shows a massive cloud of hot gas and dust particles. Nested inside are some 130 young stars which sprang to life as the cloud coalesced. This reddish colour of the rosebud indicates the presence of material rich in hydrocarbons while the green shading below shows the presence of carbon monoxide.
Who knew that smog could be so beautiful? Of course, don’t tell your loved one this. Just show her the pretty picture.
Picture Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Megeath (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)
Very pretty, very memorable flower. I liked the chocolate planetary bodies better though ;-)
Posted by: Gwen | February 14, 2006 at 09:14 AM
Do they have coffee shaped stars?
Posted by: Crankyspice | February 16, 2006 at 01:35 PM