WISE mission

[Waspie_Dwarf]

WISE Spacecraft Warming Up

08.10.10

Artist's concept of the Wide-field Infrared

Survey Explorer.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

› Larger view

Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer Mission Status

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is warming up. Team members say the spacecraft is running out of the frozen coolant needed to keep its heat-sensitive instrument chilled.

The telescope has two coolant tanks that keep the spacecraft's normal operating temperature at 12 Kelvin (minus 438 degrees Fahrenheit). The outer, secondary tank is now depleted, causing the temperature to increase. One of WISE's infrared detectors, the longest-wavelength band most sensitive to heat, stopped producing useful data once the telescope warmed to 31 Kelvin (minus 404 degrees Fahrenheit). The primary tank still has a healthy supply of coolant, and data quality from the remaining infrared detectors remains high.

WISE completed its primary mission, a full scan of the entire sky in infrared light, on July 17, 2010. The mission has taken more than 1.5 million snapshots so far, uncovering hundreds of millions of objects, including asteroids, stars and galaxies. It has discovered more than 29,000 new asteroids to date, more than 100 near-Earth objects and 15 comets.

WISE is continuing a second survey of about one-half the sky as originally planned. It's possible the remaining coolant will run out before that scan is finished. Scientists say the second scan will help identify new and nearby objects, as well as those that have changed in brightness. It could also help to confirm oddball objects picked up in the first scan.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The principal investigator, Edward Wright, is at UCLA. The mission was competitively selected under NASA's Explorers Program, managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory, Logan, Utah, and the spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. Science operations and data processing take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

More information is online at http://www.nasa.gov/wise and http://wise.astro.ucla.edu.

Source: NASA - Missions - WISE - News & Media Resources

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Omega Centauri

Aug 16, 2010 - Omega Centauri

NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has captured a favorite observing target of amateur astronomers -- Omega Centauri. Also known as NGC 5139, this celestial cluster of stars can be found in the constellation Centaurus and can be seen by the naked eye to observers at low northern latitudes and in the southern hemisphere. Omega Centauri contains approximately 10 million stars and is about 16,000 light-years away. This image spans an area on the sky equivalent to a grid of about 3 by 2 full Moons.

The ancient astronomer Ptolemy thought Omega Centauri was a star, and Edmond Halley identified it as a nebula in 1677. In the 1830s, John Herschel identified it as a globular star cluster orbiting the Milky Way Galaxy. A globular cluster is a spherical group of stars that are bound together by gravity.

Omega Centauri has always been the black sheep of globular clusters, since it has several characteristics that mark it as different from the typical globular cluster. For example, Omega Centauri is ten times more massive than other globular clusters. It also includes stars of a variety of ages, whereas other globular clusters contain stars from only one generation.

Recent research based on observations using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini Observatory indicates that there is a black hole at its center. This suggests that Omega Centauri may actually be a dwarf galaxy that has been stripped of its outer stars and not a globular cluster after all.

All four infrared detectors aboard WISE were used to create this mosaic image of Omega Centauri. The colors blue and cyan represent light emitted from stars at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns. The green halo surrounding the center represents light at 12 microns, emitted by warm dust.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Name: Omega Centauri (NGC 5139)

Type: Star Cluster > Globular

Distance: 16,000 light-years away

Size: 150 light-years in diameter

Apparent Magnitude: +3.7

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000): RA= 13h 26m 45s; Dec=-47° 28’ 36”

Constellation: Centaurus

Field of View: 1.49 degrees x 1.18 degrees

Orientation: North is 153.21 degrees left of vertical

Color Mapping: 22 microns=Red, 12 microns=Green, 4.6 microns=cyan, 3.4 microns=blue

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Rosette Nebula

Aug 25, 2010 - WISE Captures the Unicorn's Rose

Unicorns and roses are usually the stuff of fairy tales, but a new cosmic image taken by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WISE) shows the Rosette nebula located within the constellation Monoceros, or the Unicorn.

This flower-shaped nebula, also known by the less romantic name NGC 2237, is a huge star-forming cloud of dust and gas in the Milky Way Galaxy. Estimates of the nebula’s distance vary from 4,500 to 5,000 light-years away.

At the center of the flower is a cluster of young stars called NGC 2244. The most massive stars produce huge amounts of ultraviolet radiation, and blow strong winds that erode away the nearby gas and dust, creating a large, central hole. The radiation also strips electrons from the surrounding hydrogen gas, ionizing it and creating what astronomers call an HII region.

Although the Rosette nebula is too faint to see with the naked eye, NGC 2244 is beloved by amateur astronomers because it is visible through a small telescope or good pair of binoculars. The English astronomer John Flamsteed discovered the star cluster NGC 2244 with a telescope around 1690, but the nebula itself was not identified until John Herschel (son of William Herschel, discoverer of infrared light) observed it almost 150 years later.

The streak seen at lower left is the trail of a satellite, captured as WISE snapped the multiple frames that make up this view.

This image is a four-color composite created by all four of WISE’s infrared detectors. Color is representational: blue and cyan represent infrared light at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is dominated by light from stars. Green and red represent light at 12 and 22 microns, which is mostly light from warm dust.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Name: Rosetta Nebula (NGC 2237); NGC 2244

Type: Nebula > Emission; Star Cluster > Open

Distance: 4,500-5,000 light-years

Size: 130 light-years across (Rosette Nebula); 50 light-years across (NGC 2244)

Age: 4 million years old (NGC 2244)

Mass: 10,000-11,000 solar masses (Rosette Nebula)

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000): RA=06h 31m 40s; Dec=+04° 57’ 08”

Constellation: Monoceros

Field of View: 1.76 x 1.97 degrees

Orientation: North is 93.01 degrees left of vertical

Color Mapping: 22 microns=Red, 12 microns=Green, 4.6 microns=cyan, 3.4 microns=blue

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

M74

Sep 8, 2010 - A Spiral Galaxy is Visited by a Trojan War Hero

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Nope, it’s an asteroid tracking its way across the sky with a beautiful spiral galaxy in the background. In the center of this new mosaic image captured by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is the galaxy Messier 74, with its spiral arms seen face-on. The bright reddish object moving across the lower right part of the image is the much closer asteroid 3540 Protesilaos, seen at different points in its orbit around the Sun. WISE observed and detected this previously known asteroid a total of ten times, although only a few of those frames were used in this mosaic.

Also known as NGC 628, the Messier 74 galaxy is between 24.5 and 36 million light-years away, and has a diameter of about 100,000 light-years. It is suspected to have a black hole at its center, with a mass equal to 10,000 Suns. It is one of only a handful of known black holes with masses intermediate between the relatively smaller ones that form from collapsing stars and the supermassive black holes millions of times more massive than the sun, which are more typically found at the centers of galaxies Although it is called a Messier object, Messier 74 was actually discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1780, who then told his friend Charles Messier about it. As one of the dimmest of all Messier objects, this galaxy is a challenge for amateur astronomers to see in visible light, but the WISE cameras captured it clearly in infrared light.

The colors used in this image represent different wavelengths of infrared radiation. Blue and cyan represent light at 3.4 and 4.6 microns, respectively. These colors show both nearby stars inside the Milky Way Galaxy and the combined light of billions of stars that make up Messier 74. Green and red represent light from 12 and 22 microns, respectively. These colors show light from cooler objects and material. Dust in star-forming regions in Messier 74 traces its spiral structure. The coolest object in the picture is the asteroid 3540 Protesilaos.

This asteroid was first seen in 1973 by the German astronomer Freimut Börngen, who discovered more than 500 asteroids while he was researching galaxies. At the time that WISE observed 3540 Protesilaos, it was at a distance of 772 million kilometers from Earth (480 million miles, or about 43 light-minutes). It is classified as a Jupiter Trojan minor planet, which are small rocky bodies that share the same orbit around the Sun as the planet Jupiter. Based on the infrared observations, the WISE team estimates the asteroid to be about 90 kilometers (56 miles) across and to reflect only a few percent of the light that lands on it, which makes it about as dark as coal.

By convention, Trojan asteroids are named after the heroes from the Trojan War. In this case, asteroid 3540 is named after the hero Protesilaos. According to Greek mythology, Protesilaos was the first Greek to set foot on Trojan land during the war. Unfortunately for him, there was a prophecy that the first soldier in the war to step onto land from a battle ship would die. The prophecy quickly came true and Protesilaos was killed by the Trojan hero, Hector.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Names: Messier 74 (M74, NGC 628); 3540 Protesilaos (1973 UF5)

Type: Galaxy > Spiral; Interplanetary Body > Asteroid

Distance:

M74: between 24.5 and 36 million light-years 3540

Protesilaos: 5.16 AU (772 million km; at the time of WISE observations)

Size: Approximately 100,000 light-years (M74); 90 km (3540 Protesilaos)

Orbital Period: 12.07 years (3540 Protesilaos)

Rotational Period: 8.95 hours (3540 Protesilaos)

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000): RA=01h 36m 41s; Dec=+15 degrees 47’ 00” (M74);

Constellation: Pisces

Field of View: 0.46 x 0.46 degrees

Orientation: North is 201.61 degrees left of vertical

Color Mapping Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

LBN 114.55+00.22

Sep 16, 2010 - A Nebula by Any Other Name

Nebulae are enormous clouds of dust and gas occupying the space between the stars. Some have pretty names to match their good looks, such as the Rose nebula, while others have much more utilitarian names. Such is the case with LBN 114.55+00.22, seen here in an image from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.

Named after the astronomer who published a catalogue of nebulae in 1965, LBN stands for “Lynds Bright Nebula." The numbers 114.55+00.22 refer to nebula’s coordinates in the Milky Way Galaxy, serving as a sort of galactic home address.

Astronomers classify LBN 114.55+00.22 as an emission nebula. Unlike a reflection nebula, which reflects light from nearby stars, an emission nebula emits light. High-energy light blasted out from a nearby massive star strips away electrons from the nebula’s hydrogen gas, causing the gas to become charged. These nebulae are also called HII regions, with the “H” standing for hydrogen and the “II” indicating that the gas is ionized. As the ionized gas begins to cool from a higher-energy state to a lower-energy state, it glows. In the case of LBN 114.55+00.22, dust blocks the view of most of this nebula in visible light. But the dust of the nebula is also warmed by the light of the young stars within, and WISE’s infrared detectors see its beautiful infrared colors. Emission nebulae are usually found in the disks of spiral galaxies, and are places where new stars are forming.

In the lower left corner of the image is the bright red star IRAS 23304+6147, which is in the last phase of its life. As the hydrogen in its core burns out, the star will become a planetary nebula, ejecting material that absorbs visible light and glows in the infrared. This star’s name comes from the 1983 survey mission Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS).

Another bright object in this image is the supergiant variable star HIP 117078, seen above and to the right of the nebula. In this case, HIP stands for Hipparcos, a European Space Agency satellite that catalogued the positions of over 100,000 stars.

The colors used in this image represent specific wavelengths of infrared light. Blue and cyan represent light emitted at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is predominantly from stars. Green and red represent light from 12 and 22 microns, respectively, which is mostly emitted by dust.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Name: LBN 114.55+00.22

Type: Nebula > Emission > HII Region

Distance: 6,200 light-years (LBN114.55+00.22); 18,000 light-years (HIP117078)

Size: 30 light-years (diameter, LBN114.55+00.22)

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000): RA = 23h 39m 18s; Dec = +61° 56’

Constellation: Cassiopeia

Field of View: 0.46 x 0.46 degrees

Orientation: North is 224.75 degrees left of vertical

Color Mapping Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Reflection Nebula DG 129 and Pi Scorpii

Sep 21, 2010 - In the Grip of the Scorpion’s Claw

Gripped in the claw of the constellation Scorpius, sits the reflection nebula DG 129, a cloud of gas and dust that reflects light from nearby, bright stars. This infrared view of the nebula was captured by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.

Viewed in visible light, this portion of the sky seems somewhat unremarkable. But in infrared light, a lovely reflection nebula is revealed. DG 129 was first catalogued by a pair of German astronomers, named Johann Dorschner and Josef Gürtler, in 1963.

Much like gazing at Earth-bound clouds, it is fun to use your imagination when looking at images of nebulae. Some people see this nebula as an arm and hand emerging from the cosmos. If you picture the "thumb" and "forefinger" making a circle, it is as though you are seeing a celestial "okay" sign.

The bright star on the right with the greenish haze is Pi Scorpii. This star marks one of the claws of the scorpion in the constellation Scorpius. It is actually a triple-star system located some 500 light-years away. Perhaps a cross-species celestial handshake is imminent?

The colors used in this image represent different wavelengths of infrared light. The image was constructed from frames taken after WISE ran out of some of the coolant needed to chill its infrared detectors and began to warm up. The WISE detector sensitive to 22-micron light has become too warm to produce good images, but the three shorter wavelength detectors continue to crank out over 7,000 pictures of the sky every day, like the ones that make up this picture .Blue represents infrared radiation at 3.4 microns, while green represents light with a wavelength of 4.6 microns. Red represents 12-micron infrared light.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Name: DG 129; Pi Scorpii

Type: Nebula > Reflection; Star > Variable > Eclipsing Binary

Distance: 500 light-years (Pi Scorpii)

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000):

DG 129: RA=15h 55.2m; Dec=-25° 46’

Pi Scorpii: RA=15h 58m 51s; Dec=-26° 06’ 50”

Constellation: Scorpius

Field of View: 1.83 x 1.83 degrees

Orientation: North is 168 degrees left of vertical

Color Mapping Blue=3.4 microns; Green=4.6 microns; Red=12 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

Edited November 17, 2010 by Waspie_Dwarf
corrected source link.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

IRAS 22298+6505

Sep 29, 2010 - The Dark Heart of the King

NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, captured this image of a hidden star-forming cloud complex of dust and gas located in the constellation of Cepheus. Cepheus, father of Andromeda, was a mythological king in the ancient Greek world. This image of dark nebulae lies near the heart of the king, as imagined by the ancient Greeks.

The dust in these nebulae blocks visible light passing through it, and the cloud and its contents are mostly hidden when viewed in visible light. What appears to the naked eye as the blackness of space is in fact a dark nebula. WISE’s infrared vision both penetrates the dust to see stars within the cloud as well as detects the glow of the dust that makes up the cloud.

Different parts of this nebula have a variety of names in astronomical catalogs. The central portion is known as IRAS 22298+6505. IRAS stands for Infrared Astronomical Satellite, a predecessor to WISE and an international satellite that mapped the sky in infrared light in the 1980s. Other portions of this cloud are called TGU H686 P2 and LDN 1213. As with IRAS, the first letters of these objects refer to astronomical catalogs. TGU is an acronym for the Tokyo Gakugei University catalog, while LDN stands for Lynds Dark Nebula catalog. The surveys that produced these catalogs were often done with fields of view that were much smaller than WISE's. What looked like distinct nebulae in those surveys are revealed as a much larger cloud complex by WISE. This complex spans about 120 light-years across and is located about 2,500 light-years away at the edge of a spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, called the Orion spur.

These types of clouds are the locations where stars are born. When a cloud of dust and gas becomes so dense that it can block out light, it is ripe for parts of the cloud to collapse into newborn stars. The whole cloud doesn’t form stars all at one time. Some parts of the cloud go first, and the winds and radiation from the biggest and hottest stars in that first generation will blow away parts of the cloud and compress other parts causing further star formation to occur. The bright blue giant star, 26 Cephei, is an example. Seen in the upper central part of this image, 26 Cephei is surrounded by a bubble of cool, red dust and dust-enshrouded younger stars that may owe their existence to their older sibling.

Color in this image is representational. Blue and cyan represent light at 3.4 and 4.6 microns, primarily emitted by stars. Green and red represent light at 12 and 22 microns, emitted by the relatively cooler dust particles in the dark clouds.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Name: IRAS 22298+6505; TGU H686 P2; LDN 1213; 26 Cephei

Types: Infrared Source; Nebula > Dark Cloud; Nebula > Dark Cloud; Star > Spectral Type B

Distance: 26 Cephei: 2,500 light-years

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000): 26 Cephei: RA=22h 27m 05s; Dec=+65° 07’ 56”

IRAS 22298+6505: RA=22h 31m 30.2s; Dec=+65° 20’ 45”

TGUH686 P2: RA=22h 32.0m; Dec=+65° 18’

LDN 1213: RA=22h 31.6m; Dec=+65° 25’

Constellation: Cepheus

Field of View: 2.36 x 2.36 degrees

Orientation: North is 145.952 degrees left of vertical

Color Mapping Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Hartley 2

Oct 5, 2010 - Icy Visitor from Beyond

This visitor from deep space, seen here by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is comet Hartley 2 -- the destination for NASA's EPOXI mission.

The comet--known officially as 103P/Hartley--was discovered fairly recently, in 1986, by Malcolm Hartley in Siding Spring, Australia. It probably originated from an icy orbit close to that of Jupiter's, before something knocked it on a path toward the Sun. The comet circles the Sun every 6.46 years -- its upcoming closest approach to the Sun, called perihelion, will take place on Oct. 28, 2011. EPOXI, which utilizes the already "in flight" Deep Impact flyby spacecraft, will reach the comet on Nov. 4.

The WISE observations are helping the EPOXI team gain a more comprehensive picture of the comet's behavior over time. This image, taken on May 10, 2010, provides the most extensive look yet at the comet's dusty trail -- a path of particles, sort of like a trail of crumbs, that the comet leaves during each of its trips through the inner solar-system. The extent of the trail seen in this view, behind the comet, is 1.8 million kilometers, or 1.1 million miles.

WISE's infrared vision also makes it good at studying the range of dust particle sizes in the trail, as well as the comet's tail, seen here as a fuzzy streak to the right of the comet, in line with the trail. Infrared observations are also useful for measuring the comet's nucleus and rotation rate.

Comet Hartley 2 is about 1.2 kilometers in diameter, or .8 miles. It was approximately 2.3 astronomical units away from the Sun when this picture was taken (an astronomical unit is the distance between Earth and the Sun). When EPOXI reaches the comet on Nov. 4, it will be nearly 1.1 astronomical units away from the Sun and only 0.15 astronomical units from Earth.

The fuzzy background in this picture is noise, primarily from dust in our own solar system. Stars cannot be seen because they are subtracted out during the process of averaging multiple WISE pictures together into this one view.

Infrared light of 4.6, 12 and 22 microns is colored blue, green and red, respectively.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Name: Comet 103P/Hartley 2

Types: Interplanetary Body > Comet

Distance: At time of observation: 2.04 AU (305 million km, 190 million miles)

Perihelion: 1.06 AU

Aphelion: 5.88 AU

Closest Approach to Earth (10/20/2010): 11,236,261 miles

Size: 0.98 - 1.6 km in diameter (nucleus)

Orbital Period: 6.46 years

Albedo: 0.028

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000, at time of observation): RA: 21h 09m 08s, Dec: -01d 06m 16s

Constellation: Aquarius

Field of View: 1.21 x 0.75 degrees

Orientation: North is straight up.

Color Mapping Blue=3.4 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

Edited November 17, 2010 by Waspie_Dwarf
formatting.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Sculptor Galaxy

Oct 13, 2010 - The Many Infrared 'Personalities' of the Sculptor Galaxy

The Sculptor galaxy is shown in different infrared hues, in this new mosaic from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The main picture is a composite of infrared light captured with all four of the space telescope's infrared detectors.

The red image at bottom right shows the galaxy's active side. Infant stars are heating up their dusty cocoons, particularly in the galaxy's core, making the Sculptor galaxy burst with infrared light. This light -- color-coded red in this view -- was captured using WISE's longest-wavelength, 22-micron detector. The dusty burst of stars is so intense in the core that it generates diffraction spikes. Diffraction spikes are telescope artifacts normally seen only around very bright stars.

The green image at center right reveals the galaxy's emerging young stars, concentrated in the core and spiral arms. Ultraviolet light from these hot stars is being absorbed by tiny dust or soot particles left over from their formation, making the particles glow with infrared light that has been color-coded green in this view. WISE can see this light with a detector designed to capture wavelengths of 12 microns.

The blue image at top right was taken with the two shortest-wavelength detectors on WISE (3.4 and 4.6 microns). It shows stars of all ages, which can be found not just in the core and spiral arms but throughout the galaxy.

The Sculptor galaxy, or NGC 253, was discovered in 1783 by Caroline Herschel, a sister and collaborator of the discoverer of infrared light, Sir William Herschel. It was named after the constellation in which it is found, and is part of a cluster of galaxies known as the Sculptor group. The Sculptor galaxy can be seen by observers in the southern hemisphere with a pair of good binoculars.

NGC 253 is an active galaxy, which means that a significant fraction of its energy output does not come from normal populations of stars within the galaxy. The extraordinarily high amount of star formation occurring in the nucleus of this galaxy has led astronomers to classify it as a "starburst" galaxy. At a distance of approximately 10.5 million light-years away, NGC 253 is the closest starburst galaxy to our Milky Way Galaxy. However, the starburst alone cannot explain all the activity observed in the nucleus. One strong possibility is that a giant black hole lurks at the heart of it all, similar to the one that lies at the center of the Milky Way.

In late September of this year, after surveying the sky about one-and-a-half times, WISE exhausted its supply of the frozen coolant needed to chill the longest-wavelength detectors -- the 12- and 22-micron channels. The satellite is continuing to survey the sky with its two remaining detectors, focusing primarily on asteroids and comets. Read more about this survey, called the NEOWISE Post-Cryogenic mission, at jpl.nasa.gov.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Names: Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)

Types: Galaxy > Active Galaxy > Starburst

Distance: Approximately 10.5 million light-years

Size: Approximately 65,200 light-years in diameter

Luminosity 2.8 x 10¹⁰ more luminous than the Sun

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000, at time of observation): RA=00h 46m 33.13s; Dec=-25° 17’ 17.8”

Constellation: Sculptor

Field of View: 0.61 x 0.38 degrees

Orientation: North is 26.26 degrees left of vertical

Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Cocoon Nebula

Oct 20, 2010 - Cosmic Cocoon

The aptly named Cocoon nebula is featured in this image from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. This cloud of dust and gas, cataloged as IC 5146 and located in the constellation Cygnus, is wrapped in a dark cloud of dust called Barnard 168. Within this cocoon of dust and gas, new stars are forming and beginning to emerge into the wild.

In the heart of the nebula, which looks surprisingly like a Valentine’s heart in WISE's view, massive new stars are emerging. The intense radiation from these stars heats up the cloud. The highest-energy light from the stars rips electrons from hydrogen atoms, which then recombine with the atoms and emit visible light.

Pictures of the Cocoon nebula taken with visible light see only the inner most part of this cloud glowing red and surrounded by an eerie darkness. That darkness appears as an absence of stars, but it is actually a dense cloud of dust obscuring stars behind it. This dense cloud is being heated by the young stars within. The dust absorbs the high-energy radiation from the newborn stars and then glows in infrared light, captured by WISE in this view. The dusty cocoon extends over 45 light-years across, which is more than three times larger than the inner, glowing portion of the nebula.

The colors used in this image represent specific wavelengths of infrared light. Blue and cyan represent light emitted at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is predominantly from stars. Green and red represent light from 12 and 22 microns, respectively, which is mostly emitted by dust.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Name: IC 5146 (Cocoon Nebula); Barnard 168

Type: Nebula > Emission > HII Region (Cocoon Nebula); Nebula > Dark (Barnard 168)

Distance: 4,000 light-years

Size: 45 light-years

Age: 100,00 years

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000): RA=21h 53m 32s; Dec=47° 16.1’

Constellation: Cygnus

Field of View: 1.19 x 0.89 degrees

Orientation: North is 106.27 degrees left of vertical

Color Mapping Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

IRAS 12116-6001

Oct 27, 2010 - IRAS 12116-6001: Dark Reflections in the Southern Cross

NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, captured this colorful image of the reflection nebula IRAS 12116-6001. This cloud of interstellar dust cannot be seen directly in visible light, but WISE’s detectors observed the nebula at infrared wavelengths.

In images of reflection nebulae taken with visible light, clouds of dust reflect the light of nearby stars. The dust is warmed to relatively cool temperatures by the starlight and glows in infrared light, which WISE can detect. Reflection nebulae are of interest to astronomers because they are often the sites of new star formation.

The bright blue star on the right side of the image is the variable star Epsilon Crucis. In the Bayer system of stellar nomenclature, stars are given names based on their relative brightness within a constellation. The Greek alphabet is used to designate the star’s apparent brightness compared to other stars in the same constellation. “Alpha” is the brightest star in the constellation, “beta” the second brightest, and so on. In this case, “epsilon” is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet, so Epsilon Crucis is the fifth brightest star in the constellation Crux.

Crux is a well-known constellation that can be easily seen by observers in the Southern Hemisphere and from low northern latitudes. Also known as the Southern Cross, Crux is featured in many country’s flags, including Australia, Brazil and New Zealand (although New Zealand’s flag does not include Epsilon Crucis).

The colors used in this image represent specific wavelengths of infrared light. The blue color of Epsilon Crucis represents light emitted at 3.4 and 4.6 microns. The green-colored star seen beside Epsilon Crucis is emitting light at 12 microns. This star is IRAS 12194-6007, a carbon star that is near the end of its lifecycle. Since the infrared wavelengths emitted by this star are longer than those from Epsilon Crucis, it is cooler. The green and red colors seen in the reflection nebula represent 12- and 22-micron light coming from the nebula’s dust grains warmed by nearby stars.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Name: IRAS12116-6001; Epsilon Crucis

Type: Nebula > Reflection; Star > Variable

Distance: 229 light-years (Epsilon Crucis)

Temperature: 4148 Kelvin (Epsilon Crucis)

Age: 100,00 years

Mass: Approximately 1.42 times more massive than the Sun (Epsilon Crucis)

Magnitude:+3.59 (Epsilon Crucis)

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000):

RA= 12h 14m 21.383s; Dec=-60° 18’ 07.63” (IRAS 12116-6001)

RA=12h 21m 21.6193s; Dec=-60° 24’ 04.128” (Epsilon Crucis)

Constellation: Crux

Field of View: 1.56 x 1.56 degrees

Orientation: North is 140.68 degrees left of vertical

Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Circinus Molecular Cloud

Nov 2, 2010 - Star Formation in the Circinus Molecular Cloud Complex

The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has uncovered a striking population of young stellar objects in a complex of dense, dark clouds in the southern constellation of Circinus. This mosaic from WISE covers an area on the sky so large that it could contain a grid of 11 by 7 full Moons. The cloud itself is some 2,280 light-years away and spans more than 180 light-years across.

When an interstellar cloud becomes dense and cool enough molecules can form in it, so astronomers call these molecular clouds. Molecular clouds are where stars first form, and astronomers study them hoping to learn about the earliest stages in the lives of stars. These clouds are so dense that the dust within blocks visible wavelengths of light. Telescopes that see visible light only detect ghostly dark patches in the sky, called dark nebulae. The infrared vision of WISE was able to pierce through the cloud and see the light of the dust itself and newly forming stars within.

The colors used in this image represent specific wavelengths of infrared light. Blue and cyan represent light emitted at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is predominantly from stars. Green and red represent light from 12 and 22 microns, respectively, which is mostly emitted by dust.

In the western part of the cloud (right of the image center) there is a prominent cluster of red-colored sources. This is light coming from large amounts of warm, concentrated dust. These are what astronomers call young stellar objects, stars so new that they have yet to begin nuclear fusion in their cores and are enveloped by cocoons of dust. These young stars also power large scale outflows of gas that are detected by radio telescopes. As these young stars develop, they will emerge from their cocoons and begin to light up their surroundings, making the Circinus Cloud shine in visible light.

Also in this image: the brightest star in the upper-right is IRAS 14484-6152, a giant star rich in carbon. The red object to the east (Left) of the brightest nebulosity is an O-type star. It derives its red color from the surrounding dust, which is being heated by this massive star.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Name: Circinus Molecular Cloud

Type: Nebula > Dark > Molecular Cloud; Stars > Young Stellar Objects

Distance: 2,280 light-years

Size: More than 180 light-years

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000): RA= 15h 09m 09s; Dec=-62° 56’ 26” (Image Center)

Constellation: Circinus

Field of View: 5.5 x 3.5 degrees

Orientation: North is up (East is to the Left)

Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Planetary Nebula NGC 1514

Nov 17, 2010 - A Dying Star in a Different Light

This image composite shows two views of a puffy, dying star, or planetary nebula, known as NGC 1514. The view on the left is from a ground-based, visible-light telescope; the view on the right shows the object in infrared light, as seen by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.

The object is actually a pair of stars -- one star is a dying giant somewhat heavier and hotter than our sun, and the other was an even larger star that has now contracted into a dense body called a white dwarf. As the giant star ages, it sheds some its outer layers of material to form a large bubble around the two stars. Jets of material from the white dwarf are thought to have smashed into this bubble wall. The areas where the jets hit the cavity walls appear as orange rings in the WISE image. This is because dust in the rings is being heated and glows with infrared light that WISE detects.

The green cloud seen in the WISE view is an inner shell of previously shed material. In the visible image, this shell is seen in bright, light blues. An outer shell can also be seen in the visible image in more translucent shades of blue. This outer shell is too faint to be seen by WISE.

NGC 1514 is located 800 light-years away, in the constellation Taurus.

In the WISE image, infrared light with a wavelength of 3.4 microns is blue; 4.6-micron light is cyan; 12-micron light is green; and 22-micron light is red.

The visible-light image is from the Digitized Sky Survey, based at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

-About the Object-

Names: NGC 1514

Types: Nebula > Planetary

Distance: 815 light-years

Size: 0.65 light-years (ring diameter)

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000, at time of observation): RA=04h 09m 17s; Dec=+30° 46’ 33”

Constellation: Taurus

Field of View: 1.0 x 1.0 degrees

Orientation: North is up (East is left)

Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

IC 405

Nov 23, 2010 - WISE Catches a Runaway Star in Flames

At a time of year when many people travel long distances to be with their families for the holidays, NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, captured this view of a runaway star racing away from its original home. Seen here surrounded by a glowing cloud of gas and dust, the star AE Aurigae appears to be on fire. Appropriately, the cloud is called the Flaming Star Nebula.

A runaway star is one that is hurled into high-speed motion through a supernovae explosion or collision with nearby stars. Like an angry teenager who storms out of the house after a family fight, runaway stars are ejected from their birthplace and race off to other parts of the Galaxy.

The runaway star AE Aurigae was likely born in Trapezium Cluster, which is located in the constellation Orion. It formed a binary star system with the star Mu Columbae. Approximately 2.5 million years ago, these two stars collided with another binary star system in the Trapezium Cluster. This collision sent both AE Aurigae and Mu Columbae hurtling through space in opposite directions at a speed of 100 kilometers per second. Today, AE Aurigae can be seen in the constellation Auriga, while its former binary star Mu Columbae is located in the constellation Columba.

The wind from AE Aurigae blows away electrons from the gas surrounding it. This ionized gas begins to emit light, creating what is known as an emission nebula. The star also heats up nearby dust, causing it to glow in infrared wavelengths. As seen in visible light, this dust reflects the light of nearby stars, so it is called a reflection nebula.

The colors seen in this image represent specific wavelengths of infrared light. Hot stars scattered throughout the image show up as blue and cyan. Blue represents light emitted at wavelengths of 3.4 microns, while cyan represents 4.6 microns. The gas of the emission nebula appears green, representing 12-micron wavelengths. The dust of the reflection nebula appears primarily red, representing 22-micron light.

One interesting aspect of this image is that the edges of the reflection nebula appear lavender. This is because at its edges the nebula is both emitting light at longer, 22-micron wavelengths and scattering shorter, 3.4-micron wavelength light. Since WISE represents 22-micron light as red and 3.4-micron light as blue, the combination of the two appears in this image as lavender.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Names: Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405); AE Aurigae (HR 1712)

Type: Nebula > Emission/Reflection; Star > Variable

Distance: 1500 light years

Velocity: 100 km per second (AE Aurigae)

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000): RA=05h 17.4m; Dec=+34° 23’

Constellation: Auriga

Field of View: 1.56 x 1.56 degrees

Orientation: North is 184.52 degrees left of vertical

Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Flame Nebula

Dec 2, 2010 - A Flame in Orion’s Belt

This mosaic image taken by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, features three nebulae that are part of the giant Orion Molecular Cloud. The image covers an area of the sky about three times as high and wide as the full moon (1.5 by 1.8 degrees). Included in this view are the Flame nebula, the Horsehead nebula and NGC 2023.

Despite its name, there is no fire roaring in the Flame nebula. What makes this nebula shine is the bright blue star seen to the right of the central cloud. This star, Alnitak, is the easternmost star in Orion’s belt. Wind and radiation from Alnitak blasts away electrons from the gas in the Flame nebula, causing it to become ionized and glow in visible light. The infrared glow seen by WISE is from dust warmed by Alnitak’s radiation. Also known as NGC 2024 and Orion B, this nebula is classified as a molecular cloud.

The famous Horsehead nebula appears in this image as a faint bump on the lower right side of the vertical dust ridge. In visible light, this nebula is easily recognizable as a dramatic silhouette in the shape of a horse’s head. It is classified as a dark nebula because the dense cloud blocks out the visible light of the glowing gas behind it. WISE’s infrared detectors can peer into the cloud to see the glow of the dust itself.

A third nebula, called NGC 2023, can be seen as a bright circle in the lower half of the image. NGC 2023 is classified as a reflection nebula, meaning that the dust is reflecting the visible light of nearby stars. But here WISE sees the infrared glow of the warmed dust itself.

Color in this image represents specific infrared wavelengths. Blue represents light emitted at 3.4-micron wavelengths, mainly from hot stars. Relatively cooler objects, such as the dust of the nebulae, appear green and red. Green represents 4.6-micron light and red represents 12-micron light.

This image was made from data collected after WISE began to run out of its supply of solid hydrogen cryogen in August 2010. Cryogen is a coolant used to make infrared detectors more sensitive. WISE mapped the entire sky by July using four infrared detectors, but during the period from August to October, 2010, while the cryogen was depleting, WISE had only three detectors operational, and the 12-micron detector was less sensitive. This turned out to be a good thing in the case of this image, because the less-sensitive detector reduced the glare of the Flame portion of the nebula enough to bring out details of the rest of the nebula.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Names: Flame Nebula (NGC 2024, Orion ; Horsehead Nebula (B33), NGC 2023

Type: Nebula > Dark > Molecular Cloud; Nebula > Dark; Nebula > Reflection

Distance: 1500 light-years (Flame Nebula)

Size: Approximately 9 light years across (Flame Nebula

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000):

RA=05h 41m 43.5s; Dec=-01° 42’ 17” (Flame Nebula)

RA=05h 40m 59s; Dec=-02° 27’ 30” (Horsehead Nebula)

RA=05h 41m 37.9s; Dec=-02° 15’ 52” (NGC 2023)

Constellation: Orion

Field of View: 1.53 x 1.80 degrees

Orientation: North is 2.19 degrees right of vertical

Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Green=4.6 microns; Red=12 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

The Jellyfish Nebula

Dec 9, 2010 - An Explosion of Infrared Color

This oddly colorful nebula is the supernova remnant IC 443 as seen by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. Also known as the Jellyfish nebula, IC 443 is particularly interesting because it provides a look into how stellar explosions interact with their environment. IC 443 can be found near the star Eta Geminorum, which lies near Castor, one of the twins in the constellation Gemini.

Just like human beings, stars have a life cycle -- they are born, mature and eventually die. The manner in which stars die depends on their mass. Stars with mass similar to the Sun typically become planetary nebulae at the end of their lives, whereas stars with many times the Sun’s mass explode as supernovae. IC 443 is the remains of a star that went supernova somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago. The blast from the supernova sent out shock waves that traveled through space, sweeping up and heating the surrounding gas and dust in the interstellar medium, and creating the supernova remnant seen in this image.

What is unusual about the IC 443 is that its shell-like form has two halves that have different radii, structures and emissions. The larger northeastern shell, seen here as the violet-colored semi-circle on the top left of the supernova remnant, is composed of sheet-like filaments that are emitting light from iron, neon, silicon and oxygen gas atoms and dust particles heated by the blast from the supernova. The smaller southern shell, seen here in a bright cyan color on the bottom half of the image, is constructed of denser clumps and knots primarily emitting light from hydrogen gas and heated dust. These clumps are part of a molecular cloud which can be seen in this image as the greenish cloud cutting across IC 443 from the northwest to southeast. The color differences seen in this image represent different wavelengths of infrared emission.

The differences in color are also the result of differences in the energies of the shock waves hitting the interstellar medium. The northeastern shell was probably created by a fast shock wave (100 kilometers per second or 223,700 miles per hour), whereas the southern shell was probably created by a slow shock wave (30 kilometers per second or 67,100 miles per hour).

All WISE featured images use color to represent specific infrared wavelengths. Blue represents 3.4-micron light, cyan represents 4.6-micron light, green represents 12-micron light and red represents 22-micron light. In this image, we see a mixing of blue and cyan in the southern ridge that is not often seen in other WISE images. The northeastern shell appears violet, indicating a mixture of longer infrared wavelengths from cooler dust (red) and shorter infrared wavelengths from luminescent gas (blue).

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Object-

Names: Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443); Eta Geminorum (Propus)

Type: Nebula > Supernova Remnant; Star > Variable

Distance: Approximately 1.5 kiloparsec or 4890 light years (IC 443)

Size: Approximately 65 light years across (IC 443)

Age: 5,000-10,000 years old (IC 443)

-About the Image-

Position of object (J2000):

RA=06h 18m 02.7s; Dec=22° 39’ 36” (IC 443)

RA=06h 14m 52.7s; Dec=22° 30’ 24.5” (Propus)

Constellation: Gemini

Field of View: 1.56 x 1.56 degrees

Orientation: North is straight up

Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Nearby Galaxies

Dec 14, 2010 - A Collage of Nearby Galaxies

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Explorer, or WISE, the mission team has put together this image showing just a sample of the millions of galaxies that have been imaged by WISE during its survey of the entire sky.

NGC 300 is seen in the image in the upper left panel. This is a textbook spiral galaxy. In fact, it is such a good representation of a spiral galaxy that astronomers have studied it in great detail to learn about the structure of all spirals in general. Infrared images like this one from WISE show astronomers where areas of gas and warm dust are concentrated -- features that cannot be seen in visible light. This gas and dust is primarily found near star-forming regions in the spiral arms. There isn’t a significant amount of gas and dust in the central core in this type of spiral galaxy, so it appears relatively dim. At about 39,000 light-years across, NGC 300 is only about 40 percent the size of the Milky Way Galaxy.

The upper right image shows Messier 104, or M104, also known as the Sombrero galaxy. Although M104 is also classified as a spiral galaxy, it has a very different appearance than NGC 300. In part, this is because the dusty, star-forming spiral disk in M104 is seen nearly edge-on from our point of view. M104 also has a large, ball-shaped bulge component of older stars, seen here in blue. In visible light, a dark dust lane extends across the galaxy, blocking out some of the bright starlight in the disk behind it, and causing it to resemble a sombrero. This dust lane encircles the entire galaxy and glows brightly in infrared; it is seen here as bright circle surrounding a dense galactic core.

The large, fuzzy grouping of stars at the center of the lower left panel is the galaxy Messier 60, or M60. This galaxy does not have a spiral disk, just a bulge, making it a massive elliptical galaxy. M60 is about 20 percent larger than the Milky Way Galaxy, and lies in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. The brighter dense spot inside but off-center from the blue core of M60 is a separate spiral galaxy called NGC 4647. In visible light, M60 is much brighter than NGC 4647. However, in the longest infrared wavelengths that WISE sees, the opposite is true. Recent evidence suggests there is a black hole at the center of M60 with a mass of about 4.5 billion times that of the Sun, making it one of the largest black holes known. Two more galaxies are near the upper left corner of this panel, NGC 4638 (the brighter one) and NGC 4637. In addition, two different asteroids were caught crossing the field of view when WISE imaged this portion of the sky (dotted green lines extending out from M60 at about the 2 o’clock and 8 o’clock positions).

The galaxy in the lower right panel is Messier 51, or NGC 5194, also frequently referred to as the Whirlpool galaxy. The Whirlpool is a "grand design" spiral galaxy. It is interacting with its smaller companion -- NGC 5195, a dwarf galaxy, which can be seen as a bright spot near the tip of the spiral arm extending up and to the right of the larger galaxy. The Whirpool's very bright spiral arms show areas of compressed dust and gas. These arms have been enhanced by the recent encounter with NGC 5195.

These images were made from observations by all four infrared detectors aboard WISE. Blue and cyan represent infrared light at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is primarily light from stars. Green and red represent light at 12 and 22 microns, which is primarily light emitted from warm dust.

WISE launched into space aboard a Delta II rocket on Dec. 14, 2009, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Objects-

Names: NGC 300 (Caldwell 70); Messier 104 (M104, Sombrero galaxy, NGC4594); Messier 60 (M60, NGC4649; NGC4647; NGC 4637; NGC4638); Messier 51 (M51A, Whirlpool galaxy, NGC 5194; M51B, NGC 5195)

Types: Galaxy > Spiral (NGC 300); Galaxy > Spiral (M104); Galaxy > Elliptical (M60); Galaxy > Spiral, Galaxy > Interacting (M51)

Distances: 6.1 million light-years (NGC 300); 31 million light-years (M104); 55 million light-years (M60); 25 million light-years (M51)

Sizes: 39,000 light-years (NGC 300); 77,600 light-years (M104); 118,000 light-years (M60); 81,000 light-years (M51)

-About the Images-

Position of objects (J2000): RA=00h 54m 54s, Dec=-37° 41’ 04” (NGC 300); RA=12h 39m 59s, Dec=-11° 37’ 23” (M104); RA=12h 43m 40s, Dec=+11° 33’ 10” (M60); RA=13h 29m 55s; Dec=+47° 13’ 54” (M51)

Constellations: Sculptor (NGC 300); Virgo (M104); Virgo (M60); Canes Venatici (M51)

Fields of View: 0.764 x 0.764 degrees (NGC 300); 0.417 x 0.417 degrees (M104); 0.497 x 0.497 degrees (M60); 0.317 x 0.317 degrees (M51)

Orientations: North is: 150.07 right of vertical (NGC 300); 156.7 degrees left of vertical (M104); 156.4 degrees left of vertical (M60); 35.7 degrees right of vertical (M51)

Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Lamda Centauri Nebula

Dec 21, 2010 - Chasing Chickens in the Lambda Centauri Nebula

This image from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is an infrared view of a star forming cloud in our Galaxy called the Lambda Centauri nebula, also known as the Running Chicken nebula. The nebula, cataloged as IC 2944, is about 5,800 light-years from Earth and home to a new cluster of stars born from the cloud nearly 8 million years ago. The hottest members of the cluster produce enough ultraviolet radiation and strong winds to both ionize and excavate the cloud. The ionized gas glows in visible light, but in infrared light we see the dust in the cloud warmed by the very same radiation. The dust glowing red is the coolest material seen in this image and is composed of metallic dust grains. The greenish components in the image are warmer dust grains composed of smog-like materials. The large green ring-like structure near the middle of the image is some 77 light-years across and is formed by the combined winds of the stars in the clusters blowing back the material from which they were born.

The nebula gets it common name from its appearance in some visible light images to a running chicken. It is also called the Lambda Centauri nebula because it appears to surround the bright star Lambda Centauri. Lambda Centauri is one of the brightest stars in the constellation Centaurus. The brightest stars in the sky are named based on the constellation they are in. For example, the brightest star in the constellation Centaurus is Alpha Centauri, the next brightest star in that constellation is Beta Centauri, and so forth. Lambda Centauri is therefore the 11th brightest star in the constellation Centaurus. It is not so bright in infrared light, however. In this WISE image, it appears as the dimmer, lower, and bluer of two bright stars in the upper right-hand corner of the image. It is a blue giant star about 410 light-years away. So, in fact, Lambda Centauri is much closer to Earth than IC 2944 and has nothing to do with the nebula at all.

This image is a four-color composite created by all four of WISE’s infrared detectors. Color is representational: blue and cyan represent infrared light observed at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is mostly light from stars. Green and red represent light observed at 12 and 22 microns, which is mostly light from warm dust, with red indicating temperatures lower than green.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Objects-

Names: Lambda Centauri Nebula, IC 2944

Type: Nebula > Star Formation; Nebula > Emission > HII Region

Distance: 5,800 light-years

Size: 77 light-years across

Age: 7.9 million

-About the Images-

Position of objects (J2000): RA=11h 38m 20.4s; Dec=-63° 22’ 22”

Constellation: Centaurus

Field of View: 1.41 x 1.41 degrees

Orientation: North is straight up

Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Triangulum Galaxy

Dec 28, 2010 - WISE Spies a Galactic Neighbor

This image captured by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, shows of one of our closest neighboring galaxies, Messier 33. Also named the Triangulum Galaxy (after the constellation it’s found in), M33 is one of largest members in our small neighborhood of galaxies -- the Local Group. The Local Group consists of about 30 galaxies that are gravitationally bound and travel together through the Universe. M33 is the third largest member of the Local Group, dwarfed only by the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and our very own home galaxy, the Milky Way.

M33 is extremely close as far as galaxies go, residing only 3 million light years away. Its proximity, along with it being conveniently tilted towards Earth (about 54 degrees to the line of sight), make it very easy for astronomers to study in detail. The infrared images that WISE produces contribute to astronomers’ overall understanding of a variety of processes happening in the galaxy. Areas in the spiral arms that are hidden behind dust in visible light shine through brightly in infrared light, showing where clouds of cool gas are concentrated. Star-forming regions are easy to spot in infrared (green and red areas in this image). Notice that there isn’t a lot of star formation occurring near the center of M33. It would be difficult to deduce this lack of activity in the core by only looking a visible light image, where the core appears to be the brightest feature. This infrared image also shows that the galaxy is surprisingly bigger than it appears in visible light. The cold dust seen by WISE extends much further out from the core than anticipated.

The bright yellow-orange ‘blobs’ scattered throughout M33 are areas where stars are forming at an especially intense rate. The largest one in the spiral arm to the upper left has its own name, NGC 604. It’s an H II region -- an area of gas that is being heated and ionized by powerful young stars recently born inside of it. The Orion Nebula is an example of a nearby H II region within our own Milky Way Galaxy. NGC 604, however, is the largest such region in the entire Local Group of galaxies. It is over 40 times larger than the Orion Nebula and much brighter. If NGC 604 were at the same distance from Earth as the Orion Nebula it would be the brightest object in the night sky (besides the Moon).

M33 is over 50,000 light years across (about half the size of the Milky Way). Because it is so close it appears quite large to us, covering a piece of sky nearly 4 times bigger than the full Moon. Its relatively low surface brightness makes it difficult for human eyes to see, however. Even so, under exceptionally dark skies it can be seen with the unaided eye, making it one of the furthest objects visible without a telescope.

These images were made from observations by all four infrared detectors aboard WISE. Blue and cyan represent infrared light at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is primarily light from stars. Green and red represent light at 12 and 22 microns, which is primarily light emitted from warm dust.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Objects-

Names: Messier 33 (M33), Triangulum Galaxy; NGC 604

Type: Galaxy > Spiral; Nebula>Emission>H II Region

Distance: 3.0 million light years (both)

Size: Approximately 50,000 light years across (M33); Approximately 1,500 light years across (NGC 604)

-About the Images-

Position of object (J2000): RA=01h 33m 50.02s; Dec=+30° 39’ 36.7”

Constellation: Triangulum

Field of View: 1.53 x 1.53 degrees

Orientation: North is 0.53 degrees right of straight up

Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

The Lagoon Nebula

Jan 6, 2011 - WISE catches the Lagoon Nebula in the Center of the Action

This colorful picture is a mosaic of the Lagoon nebula taken by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. Normally, you would expect a lagoon to be filled with water, but this nebula is composed of clouds of gas and dust in which new stars are forming. Also known as Messier 8, or simply M8, the Lagoon nebula is seen here as a large circular cloud in the center of the image, surrounded by innumerable stars.

This view is looking toward the center of the Milky Way, which is our home galaxy. The Solar System is located on one of the spiral arms, about halfway out from the center of the disk-shaped Milky Way Galaxy. When we view the Milky Way from Earth, we are looking into the disk of the Galaxy where stars are so numerous that they appear to us as a cloudy band of light stretching across the sky. The center of the Milky Way is located in the constellation Sagittarius, which is where the Lagoon nebula can be found. M8 is a favorite target for amateur astronomers because it can be easily seen with binoculars or a small telescope.

Astronomers have identified several different parts of the Lagoon nebula, including M8E, a young stellar object, and the star clusters NGC 6523 and NGC 6530 (sometimes the designation of NGC 6523 is used interchangeably with M8). At the center of the Lagoon nebula is the star Herschel 36. Distance measurements to this nebula vary widely, from 4,000 to 6,500 light-years away from Earth. Also included in this image but not classified as part of M8, is another cloud of warm dust and gas, located up and to the right of M8. This cloud is emitting infrared radiation.

All four of WISE’s infrared detectors were used to take this image. The colors used represent specific wavelengths of infrared radiation. Blue and blue-green (cyan) represent 3.4- and 4.6-micron light, respectively. These wavelengths are mainly emitted by hot stars within the Milky Way. Green represents 12-micron light, which is emitted by the warm gas of the nebulae. Red represents the longest wavelenth, 22-micron light emitted by cooler dust within the nebulae.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Objects-

Names: Lagoon Nebula (M8, Messier 8, NGC 6530, NGC 6523, M8E)

Type: Nebula > Emission > HII Region

Distance: 4,000-6,500 light years

-About the Images-

Position of object (J2000): RA: 18h 03m 37s; Dec=-24° 23.2’

Constellation: Sagittarius

Field of View: 1.56 x 1.56 degrees

Orientation: North is straight up

Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Zeta Ophiuchi

Jan 21, 2011 - A runaway star plowing through space dust

The blue star near the center of this image is Zeta Ophiuchi. When seen in visible light it appears as a relatively dim red star surrounded by other dim stars and no dust. However, in this infrared image taken with NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, a completely different view emerges. Zeta Ophiuchi is actually a very massive, hot, bright blue star plowing its way through a large cloud of interstellar dust and gas.

Astronomers theorize that this stellar juggernaut was likely once part of a binary star system with an even more massive partner. It’s believed that when the partner exploded as a supernova, blasting away most of its mass, Zeta Ophiuchi was suddenly freed from its partner’s pull and shot away like a bullet moving 24 kilometers per second (54,000 miles per hour). Zeta Ophiuchi is about 20 times more massive and 65,000 times more luminous than the Sun. If it weren’t surrounded by so much dust, it would be one of the brightest stars in the sky and appear blue to the eye. Like all stars with this kind of extreme mass and power, it subscribes to the ‘live fast, die young’ motto. It’s already about halfway through its very short 8-million-year lifespan. In comparison, the Sun is roughly halfway through its 10-billion-year lifespan. While the Sun will eventually become a quiet white dwarf, Zeta Ophiuchi, like its ex-partner, will ultimately die in a massive explosion called a supernova.

Perhaps the most interesting features in this image are related to the interstellar gas and dust that surrounds Zeta Ophiuchi. Off to the sides of the image and in the background are relatively calm clouds of dust, appearing green and wispy, slightly reminiscent of the northern lights. Near Zeta Ophiuchi, these clouds look quite different. The cloud in all directions around the star is brighter and redder, because the extreme amounts of ultraviolet radiation emitted by the star are heating the cloud, causing it to glow more brightly in the infrared than usual.

Even more striking, however, is the bright yellow curved feature directly above Zeta Ophiuchi. This is a magnificent example of a bow shock. In this image, the runaway star is flying from the lower right towards the upper left. As it does so, its very powerful stellar wind is pushing the gas and dust out of its way (the stellar wind extends far beyond the visible portion of the star, creating an invisible ‘bubble’ all around it). And directly in front of the star’s path the wind is compressing the gas together so much that it is glowing extremely brightly (in the infrared), creating a bow shock. It is akin to the effect you might see when a boat pushes a wave in front it as it moves through the water. This feature is completely hidden in visible light. Infrared images like this one from WISE shed an entirely new light on the region.

The colors used in this image represent specific wavelengths of infrared light. Blue and cyan (blue-green) represent light emitted at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is predominantly from stars. Green and red represent light from 12 and 22 microns, respectively, which is mostly emitted by dust.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

-About the Objects-

Names: Zeta Ophiuchi

Type: Star>O Class; Nebula>Interstellar Medium

Distance: 460 light-years

Age: ~4 million years.

-About the Images-

Position of object (J2000): RA 16h 37m 10s; Dec -10° 34’

Constellation: Ophiuchus

Field of View: 1.56 x 1.56 degrees

Orientation: North is straight up

Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns

Source: WISE - Multimedia Gallery