NGC 3660 and Burçin's Galaxy The upper galaxy might be more photogenic, but the lower galaxy is more unusual. The galaxy up top is NGC 3660, a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way galaxy in that it has several bright blue spiral arms and a central bar of stars, dust, and gas. Captured by chance in the featured deep and colorful image, surprisingly, is SN 2026cff, a supernova found just to the right of the central bar. Farther in the distance is the bottom galaxy, known informally as Burçinâs galaxy, but formally cataloged as LEDA 1000714. The center of this galaxy appears to be an old elliptical galaxy, but it is strangely surrounded by not one but two rings of stars. What created Burçin's galaxy is a mystery and remains a continuing topic of research, but it likely involves the accretion of one or more smaller galaxies. Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, El Sauce Obs - May 26, 2026 - Shared through genyapps Nasa Explorer by @compez.eth - From Effort to Achievement â $GENY Helps You Share Your Path! https://nasa.genyapps.xyz/
- 0 replies
- 0 recasts
- 4 reactions
Thackeray's Globules What are these strange space globs? Situated in rich star fields and glowing hydrogen gas, these opaque clouds of interstellar dust and gas are so large they might be able to form stars. Their home is known as IC 2944, a bright stellar nursery located about 7,600 light years away toward the constellation of the Centaur (Centaurus). The largest of these dark globules, first spotted by A. D. Thackeray in 1950 using a telescope in South Africa, is likely two separate but overlapping clouds, each more than one light-year wide. Along with other data, the featured Hubble palette image from the El Sauce Observatory in Chile, indicates that Thackeray's globules are fractured and churning as a result of intense ultraviolet radiation from young, hot stars already energizing and heating the bright emission nebula. These and similar dark globules known to be associated with other star forming regions may ultimately be dissipated by their hostile environment -- like cosmic lumps of butter in a hot frying pan. Image Credit & Copyright: John Hayes - May 25, 2026 - Shared through genyapps Nasa Explorer by @compez.eth - From Effort to Achievement â $GENY Helps You Share Your Path! https://nasa.genyapps.xyz/
- 0 replies
- 0 recasts
- 4 reactions
The Nebulous Realm of WR 134 This cosmic snapshot covers a field of view over twice as wide as the full Moon within the boundaries of the high-flying constellation Cygnus. Made using astronomical narrowband filters, the image highlights the bright edge of a ring-like nebula traced by the glow of ionized hydrogen and oxygen gas. Embedded in the region's expanse of interstellar clouds, the complex, glowing arcs are sections of shells of material swept up by the wind from Wolf-Rayet star WR 134, the brightest star near image center. Distance estimates put WR 134 about 6,000 light-years away, making this telescopic frame over 100 light-years across. Shedding their outer envelopes in powerful stellar winds, massive Wolf-Rayet stars have burned through their nuclear fuel at a prodigious rate and end their final phase of massive star evolution in a spectacular supernova. Their stellar winds and final supernova explosion enrich the interstellar material with heavy elements to be incorporated in future generations of stars. Image Credit & Copyright: Luigi Morrone and Telescope Live - May 22, 2026 - Shared through genyapps Nasa Explorer by @compez.eth - From Effort to Achievement â $GENY Helps You Share Your Path! https://nasa.genyapps.xyz/
- 0 replies
- 0 recasts
- 2 reactions