March 20, 2006

(btw... this is an infrared image)

Check this out!! This is so awesome to me!! Here is a picture of the recently discovered... "DNA" nebula (for OBVIOUS reasons named such) using the Spitzer Space telescope. Now, what are nebulae?? Well, normally they are just a conglomeration of dust and gas with no organized shape to them what so ever. So this particular nebula is the first of its' kind... people, this is BIG!

How BIG?? Well, besides the discovery itself, this nebulae stretches out at 80 light-years!! In other words, how far light will travel in 80 years, and that's pretty damn far! quick fact: 1 light-year = 6,000,000,000,000,000 miles (6 trillion miles) IMAGINE THAT TIMES 80!!

Why does it have this shape?? Well, we are still exploring our universe, but something funky is going on at the center of the galaxy. I can only imagine, it's the epicenter of a bunch of solar systems and a whole lotta mass! Well, there is this thingy called a black hole at the center of our galaxy, that could be indirectly influencing magnetic fields around the nebula, causing it to have this DNA shape. So, before matter is completely sucked into nothingness by these scary things, the magnetic fields get all jacked up and twisted. So, what does this mean??? Will this entire mass eventually disapper into the black hole?? And how long does it take for something like that to happen??

quick comparison: DNA nebula is 300 light-years from Black Hole ---- EARTH is about 25,000 light-years from Black Hole (whew, thank goodness!) The magnitude of the things in our own solar system cease to amaze me and take my breath away... imagine what else could be out there in the billions of other galaxies in the universe!!

This double-helix of gas and dust is located at the center of our home galaxy... the Milky Way (just incase you didn't know... ).