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The double helix nebula. The spots are infrared-luminous stars, mostly red giants and red supergiants. Many other stars are present in this region, but are too dim to appear even in this sensitive infrared image.
The double helix nebula appears on the right side of the reddish inset image; the larger-field greenish image is a shorter-wavelength infrared image made recently with the IRAC camera on the Spitzer Space Telescope by Susan Stolovy and her colleagues. The spots are infrared-luminous stars, mostly red giants and red supergiants. Many other stars are present in this region, but are too dim to appear even in this sensitive infrared image.
Astronomers report an unprecedented elongated double helix nebula near the center of our Milky Way galaxy, using observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The part of the nebula the astronomers observed stretches 80 light years in length. The research is published March 16 in the journal Nature.
"We see two intertwining strands wrapped around each other as in a DNA molecule," said Mark Morris, a UCLA professor of physics and astronomy, and lead author. "Nobody has ever seen anything like that before in the cosmic realm. Most nebulae are either spiral galaxies full of stars or formless amorphous conglomerations of dust and gas — space weather. What we see indicates a high degree of order."
The double helix nebula is approximately 300 light years from the enormous black hole at the center of the Milky Way. (The Earth is more than 25,000 light years from the black hole at the galactic center.)
Originally posted by neonine
beautiful picture a1ex, can any one say DNA, its amazing how we can find depictions of organic life millions of miles away
Originally posted by Johnmike
I don't see what indicates order there.
While organic compounds have been discovered in meteorites that have landed on Earth, this is the first direct evidence for the presence of complex, important biogenic compounds in space. So far evidence suggests that PANHs are formed in the winds of dying stars and spread all over interstellar space.
"This stuff contains the building blocks of life, and now we can say they're abundant in space," Hudgins said. "And wherever there's a planet out there, we know that these things are going to be raining down on it. It did here and it does elsewhere."
Originally posted by Orwells Ghost
We may finally be emerging from a gravitational dark age.
www.thunderbolts.info...
Originally posted by damajikninja
Isnt that spiffy?
Wow.
Originally posted by interestedalways
Originally posted by damajikninja
Isnt that spiffy?
Wow.
Spiffy and Wow, great choice of words. I like the way you think!!!
Honest words.
It will be interesting to see where this takes you. It is always fun when a subject can open up wider upon it's discussion.