Author: Dimitri Goderdzishvili

Christmas Tree

Christmas Tree

Posted by | Dec 31, 2017 | , , |

Christmas tree is actually a nickname for NGC 2264 that officially identifies two astronomical objects: The Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster. Unofficially other objects within this designation are: The Snowflake Cluster and the Fox Fur Nebula. No doubt something including a form of cone, Christmas and snowflakes is called a Christmas Tree by fellow astronomers and astro-photographers, who lack no imagination. All these nebulae and star clusters are located in the constellation Monoceros. For reference the Snowflake Cluster in the middle is 2700 light-years away from the Earth – not too much, but due to this region’s...

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Heart and Soul Nebulae

Heart and Soul Nebulae

Posted by | Nov 24, 2017 | , |

Cassiopeia is the constellation where the “heart and soul” of our galaxy can be found. Nebulae IC 1802 and IC 1848 are relatively nicknamed Heart and Soul after their heart and embryo-like shapes. Spanned over 300 light-years, it takes about 6000 years for photons from these bright emission nebulae to reach the Earth. Their bright red light is mostly emitted by energized hydrogen. The region itself contain quite a lot of star clusters as the centers of these nebulae give birth to a lot of young stars. The vanishing line in the middle of these two nebulae is actually...

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Andromeda Galaxy

Andromeda Galaxy

Posted by | Nov 17, 2017 | , |

One of, if not the most famous deep sky objects is Messier 31 – as known as the Andromeda galaxy. At the proximity of only 2.5 million light-years to the Earth it get the well-deserved title of the closest neighbor of our galaxy – the Milky Way. Located in the constellation bearing its own name – Andromeda, the spiral galaxy like ours is actually moving on a highway towards us at the speed limit of about 110 kilometers per second. Astronomers have estimated that Andromeda will collide with the Milky Way in 4 billion years from now. However, by...

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Rosette Nebula

Rosette Nebula

Posted by | Nov 12, 2017 | , |

This cosmic flowery nebula is called Rosette after the red roses you are able to find in your backyard during spring. Inside the nebula lies an open cluster of young stars designated NGC 2244. They formed about 4 million years ago from the nebular material and their stellar winds are drilling a hole in nebula’s center, all of it insulated by cosmic dust and hot gases. The Rosette Nebula spans about 100 light-years across, at about 5000 light-years away from Earth. It is one of the few deep space objects that can be seen with even a small telescope...

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