Monday, September 6, 2010

APOD 1.1

The Bubble Nebula was NASA's astronomy picture of the day 2 Sept. 2010.

It actually does look like a bubble floating in space. The colors that form the bubble surrounding the star inside is caused by the star's winds and intense radiation blowing the material outward. Another example that is created by this process is Thor's Emerald Helmet. It is a colorful cosmic cloud that was created by the winds blowing from the star within. The stellar winds of the Bubble Nebula can go as fast as 4 million mph, and the nebula is 10 light years in diameter and is about 7100 light years from Earth. This picture was taken from Mount Wilson Observatory in Mount Wilson, California. It's amazing that they have the technology to take pictures this clear and colorful from so far away. It's also interesting that the winds can create so many different colors just from one star.

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