spark curiosity

Another life

Although there are no seasons in space, some cosmic vistas invoke thoughts of a frosty winter landscape. Here are a few stellar images of holiday wonderlands from across the galaxy…

Located in our galaxy about 5,500 light years from Earth, this region is actually a “cluster of clusters,” containing at least three clusters of young stars, including many hot, massive, luminous stars.

The outstretched “wings” of this nebula looks like a soaring, celestial snow angel. Twin lobes of super-hot gas, glowing blue in this image, stretch outward from the central star. This hot gas creates the “wings” of our angel. A ring of dust and gas orbiting the star acts like a belt, clinching the expanding nebula into an “hourglass” shape.

At this time of year, holiday parties often include festive lights. When galaxies get together, they also may be surrounded by a spectacular light show. This pair of spiral galaxies has been caught in a grazing encounter. This region has hosted three supernova explosions in the past 15 years and has produced one of the most bountiful collections of super-bright X-ray lights known.

What do the following things have in common: a cone, the fur of a fox and a Christmas tree? Answer: they all occur in the constellation of the unicorn (Monoceros). Pictured as a star forming region, the complex jumble of cosmic gas and dust is about 2,700 light-years away.

Resembling festive lights on a holiday wreath, this Hubble Space Telescope image of a nearby spiral galaxy is an iconic reminder of the impending season. Bright knots of glowing gas light up the spiral arms, indicating a rich environment of star formation.

The Hubble Space Telescope captured two festive-looking nebulas, situated so as to appear as one. Intense radiation from the brilliant central stars is heating hydrogen in each of the nebulas, causing them to glow red…like a holiday light.

Edvard Munch (Nor. 1863-1944)

From Hidden Beauty

Buddha’s Footprints Zhang Wang

As early as 1999, Zhang Wang began his photographic creation in Chinese Buddhist culture. In secluded Buddhist temples, Zhang Wang spent long time with the monks, sharing his life with them. He often got up in wee hours in the day to shoot the monastic life, or risked precarious mountains to capture Buddhist relics. He would also stay up late to peruse Buddhist texts. The fifteen years of persistent photographic creation has put him through untold hardships and difficulties but also earned him close to a hundred important honors from China and rest of the world. In May 2013, Zhang Wang’s “Buddha’s Footprints” solo exhibition was selected to be part of UNESCO’s “World Culture Convention” exhibition.