Photo: Heart and Soul Nebulae Reveal Star Birth in the Cold Dust

A breath-taking and heart felt image here, but not from the usual satelittle telescope we've all come to know and love; hubble. This is from a much more recent addition to our collection of cosmic cameras WISE, more technically known as the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer.

The Heart and Soul nebulae are over 6,000 light years away, in the constellation Cassiopeia. To capture beauties like these, WISE needs to stay cool enough that its own heat doesn’t distort the infrared images. For this reason, it carries a chunk of solid hydrogen, cryogen, that keeps the on-board telescope at about 17 degrees Kelvin (minus 429 degrees Fahrenheit). With its sensitive infrared vision, WISE can see the cool and dusty crevices of nebulae, where gas and dust are beginning to clump together to form new stars.

blogs.discovermagazine.com...

The cosmos never ceases to amaze.

Remain Vigilant

[edit on 21/05/2010 by bonsaisert]

[edit on 21/05/2010 by bonsaisert]

wow ,it looks really like a heart. fantastic
Great pic.

I've seen a number of recent threads about the birth and death of stars and planets...

...and I think the answer to our own mortality is being documented right before our eyes.

We're all a part of the same beautiful and brutal design!

Absolutely fascinating!

Thanks for posting.

Very glad I Stopped by here.

Mind Blowing. Go Hubble Go!

Thanks for sharing!

Baka.

reply to post by bakadesu


Hubble isn't taking credit for this one friend, it was WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer), only just launched last December and already its sending us back beautiful images like this one.

I'm glad you enjoyed it

reply to post by bonsaisert


Oh. ugh.

I skipped dinner and went straight for desert.

Desert was so good, I came back for seconds this morning.

Thanks for Dinner!

ahh you beat me to this thread by a week

I just saw this pic on the front page of digg, certainly an awesome photo!

If you love the heavens, please check out the thread in my signature. I was even given applause by an ATS staff member for this contribution!