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Saturday, December 22, 2012
The giant star Zeta Ophiuchi is having a "shocking" effect on the surrounding dust clouds
Star Making Waves
The giant star Zeta Ophiuchi is having a "shocking" effect on
the surrounding dust clouds in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space
Telescope. Stellar winds flowing out from this fast-moving star are making
ripples in the dust as it approaches, creating a bow shock seen as glowing
gossamer threads, which, for this star, are only seen in infrared light.
Zeta Ophiuchi is a young, large and hot star located around 370
light-years away. It dwarfs our own sun in many ways -- it is about six times
hotter, eight times wider, 20 times more massive, and about 80,000 times as
bright. Even at its great distance, it would be one of the brightest stars in
the sky were it not largely obscured by foreground dust clouds. This massive
star is travelling at a snappy pace of about 54,000 mph (24 kilometers per
second), fast enough to break the sound barrier in the surrounding interstellar
material. Because of this motion, it creates a spectacular bow shock ahead of
its direction of travel (to the left). The structure is analogous to the ripples
that precede the bow of a ship as it moves through the water, or the sonic boom
of an airplane hitting supersonic speeds.
The fine filaments of dust surrounding the star glow primarily
at shorter infrared wavelengths, rendered here in green. The area of the shock
pops out dramatically at longer infrared wavelengths, creating the red
highlights. A bright bow shock like this would normally be seen in visible light
as well, but because it is hidden behind a curtain of dust, only the longer
infrared wavelengths of light seen by Spitzer can reach us.
Bow shocks are commonly seen when two different regions of gas
and dust slam into one another. Zeta Ophiuchi, like other massive stars,
generates a strong wind of hot gas particles flowing out from its surface. This
expanding wind collides with the tenuous clouds of interstellar gas and dust
about half a light-year away from the star, which is almost 800 times the
distance from the sun to Pluto. The speed of the winds added to the star's
supersonic motion result in the spectacular collision seen here.
Our own sun has significantly weaker solar winds and is passing
much more slowly through our galactic neighborhood so it may not have a bow
shock at all. NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft are headed away from the solar
system and are currently about three times farther out than Pluto. They will
likely pass beyond the influence of the sun into interstellar space in the next
few years, though this is a much gentler transition than that seen around Zeta
Ophiuchi.
For this Spitzer image, infrared light at wavelengths of 3.6
and 4.5 microns is rendered in blue, 8.0 microns in green, and 24 microns in
red.
Image:
NASA/JPL-Caltech [high-resolution]
Caption: NASA/JPL
Friday, December 21, 2012
The Walking Dead gets a fourth season, loses Glen Mazzara as showrunner
After turning around a flailing sophomore season for AMC's The Walking Dead, the network announced that on the heels of an amazing third season start -- and a fourth season pickup -- Glen Mazzara will be stepping down as showrunner after the current season is over. Mazzara, who replaced original showrunner Frank Darabont, said: "I have told the stories I wanted to tell and connected with our fans on a level that I never imagined. It doesn’t get much better than that." Here is the full statement from AMC:
Today, AMC announces the season 4 pick-up of The Walking Dead.
AMC also jointly announces with Glen Mazzara today that for future seasons, the two parties have mutually decided to part ways. Glen guided the series creatively for seasons 2 and 3. AMC is grateful for his hard work. We are both proud of our shared success.
Both parties acknowledge that there is a difference of opinion about where the show should go moving forward, and conclude that it is best to part ways. This decision is amicable and Glen will remain on for post-production on season 3B as showrunner and executive producer.
Hot Pics of Cute Girls With Cool Guns
This reminds me of a dream I had....no wait, that was a fantasy!
My Favorite Christmas Song
I love the imagery this song invokes. It puts me in a wintry snowy place, cold and far away but knowing that somewhere, far away, 2000 miles through snow away is a warm place where a hot fire is burning and people love me and are anticipating my return as I battle the elements, walking, trudging through the bitter cold to be with them.
Chrissy Hynde's voice is so filled with emotion and longing, she is so perfect for this song, the Pretenders are tight and talented musicians, yet this was such an unexpected pleasant surprise from them when they put it out.
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