Tuesday, 16 October, 2018

The Wizard Nebula

Posted on Friday, 15 August, 2014Sunday, 20 August, 2017 by Zheluo Cai

The Wizard Nebula ( or Sharpless 142) is a diffuse nebula surrounding the developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787, its nebulosity at the time was not noted. Later, when the nebulosity was discovered, it was given the designation Sharpless 142.

Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears to some like a fictional medieval sorcerer. The NGC 7380 spans about 10,500 light-years and lies within our Milky Way Galaxy, about 8,000 light years away in the constellation of Cepheus. It is moving toward us at 34.13 kilometers per second.

At mag. 7.2, it is a loose collection of maybe 125 stars total. (NGC 7380 is in the top right quadrant). This kind of nebulae are the birthplace of stars. They are formed when very diffuse molecular clouds begin to collapse under their own gravity, often due to the influence of a nearby supernova explosion. The cloud collapses and fragments, sometimes forming hundreds of new stars. The newly-formed stars ionize the surrounding gas to produce an emission nebula.

The star cluster is embedded in the nebula, sometimes called the Wizard Nebula, which spans some 110 light-years. This bright, active star-forming region is part of a much larger molecular cloud in Cepheus, called NGC 7380E, which total mass is estimated to be 6,000-15,000 solar masses. This image was created in the Hubble Space Telescope from the emission of ionized elements, represented by the yellow Sulfur, green Hydrogen and blue Oxygen.

One new image, from the University of Arizona’s Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, depicts the central region of the dazzling Wizard Nebula, which surrounds an open star cluster NGC 7380.

Sources: Nasa, Astronomy News, Space.

The Guna, known as Kuna prior to an orthographic reform in 2010, and historically as Cuna, are an indigenous people of Panama and Colombia. In the Kuna language, they call themselves Dule or Tule, meaning "people," and the name of the language in Kuna is Dulegaya, literally "people-mouth." Most Gunas live on small islands off the coast of the comarca of Kuna Yala known as the San Blas Islands. Each community has its own political organization, led by a saila, who is traditionally both the political and religious leader of the community; he memorizes songs which relate the sacred history of the people and transmits them to the people. Traditionally, Guna families are matrilinear, with the groom moving to become part of the bride's family and taking the last name of the bride as well.

M16: In and Around the Eagle Nebula.
Image Credit & Copyright: Andrew Klinger. A closer look at the Eagle Nebula shows the bright region is a window into the centre of a larger dark shell of dust. A brightly-lit workshop appears where a whole open cluster of stars is being formed in the midst of tall pillars and round globules of dark dust and cold molecular gas. Already visible are several young bright blue stars whose light and winds are burning away and pushing back the remaining filaments and walls of gas and dust. The Eagle emission nebula, tagged M16, lies about 6500 light years away, spans about 20 light-years, toward the constellation of the Serpent (Serpens). This picture involved over 25 hours of imaging and combines three specific emitted colours emitted by sulfur (coloured as red), hydrogen (yellow), and oxygen (blue).

The flag of Mozambique was adopted on May 1, 1983. It includes the image of an AK-47 with a bayonet attached to the barrel. It is one of three national flags among UN member states that features a firearm, along with those of Guatemala and Haiti. Green stands for the riches of the land, the white fimbriations signify peace, black represents the African continent, yellow symbolises the country's minerals, and red represents the struggle for independence. The rifle stands for defence and vigilance, the open book symbolises the importance of education, the hoe represents the country's agriculture, and the star symbolises Marxism and internationalism.

The Elgin Marbles are a collection of Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of Phidias and his assistants in c. 447 to 438 BC; originally part of the temple of the Parthenon. From 1801 to 1812, agents of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin removed about half of the surviving sculptures and transported them to Britain. The half not removed is now displayed in the Acropolis Museum. In Britain, the acquisition of the collection was not supported by some, and the Earl's actions was likened to vandalism. Following a public debate in Parliament and its subsequent exoneration of Elgin, he sold the Marbles to the British government in 1816. They were then passed to the British Museum, where they are now on display in the purpose-built Duveen Gallery.

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