Gen X having fun

Symbiotic R Aquarii

Remembering NEOWISE

The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula in Cepheus

Eye of Moon

Edge On Galaxy NGC 5866

Sharpless 249 and the Jellyfish Nebula

The Pistol Star is one of the brightest stars in our galaxy, but it can only be seen in infrared light. Two large magenta shells of gas are expanding from the star, which unleashes as much energy in six seconds as our sun does in one year.

Scientists used the Hubble Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) in 1997 to observe the star and surrounding nebula. The nebula is so big (it’s four light-years across) that it would nearly span the distance from our sun to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to our solar system.

The Pistol Star is not visible to the human eye, but it is located 25,000 light-years away in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, hidden behind the great dust clouds along the Milky Way.

NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge

N63A: Supernova Remnant in Visible and X-ray