Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team B. Whitmore (Space Telescope Science Institute) et al.Explanation: Two galaxies are squaring off in Corvus and here are the latest pictures. When two galaxies collide, however, the stars that compose them usually do not. This is because galaxies are mostly empty space and, however bright, stars only take up only a small amount of that space. During the slow, hundred million year collision, however, one galaxy can rip the other apart gravitationally, and dust and gas common to both galaxies does collide. In the above clash of the titans, dark dust pillars mark massive molecular clouds are being compressed during the galactic encounter, causing the rapid birth of millions of stars, some of which are gravitationally bound together in massive star clusters.
7 comments:
This definitely boosts Corvus's rating in the interesting constellations stakes. Crater has some serious catch up to do. I'm afraid Horologium still trails the field as most boring constellation. Ever.
deaconbarry - While there are other constellations that are boring, I have to agree...for now, that Horologium is probably the most boring constellation. There isn't even any early mythology associated with it. It's merely a boring clock pendulum...tick tock tick tock....maybe a mythology can be invented about a god who is condemned to count the endless seconds of eternity?
That is truly amazing, Stardust! Kinda shrinks George Bush and the problems his stupidity creates into an obscure oblivion (wishful thinking I know).
Cheers!
Counting the seconds of eternity? That sounds like a job for Chronos. Or the monks moving the tower of Hanoi.
I've changed my mind. I started a post about Horologium being the most boring constellation, and I checked Wikipaedia for the magnitudes, and discovered Iota Horologii.
It's got a gas giant in the habitable zone! 0.91 AU! It might have moons with liquid water. Horologium is now very interesting.
Caelum on the other hand...
It might have moons with liquid water.
I am going to have to do some reading up on this. That's quite interesting.
Caelum is another with no pre 17th-century mythology associated with it. Perhaps we can have Caelum use his chisel to be the "sculptor" of the universe? That makes it a bit more interesting, doesn't it?
Caelum was originally Caela Sculptoris - the Sculptor's tools, but I guess they weren't interesting enough, so they were whittled down to one chisel.
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