APOD 3.6

The Beehive Cluster, pictured above, is one of the closest star clusters to our solar system, lying a relatively short distance of 600 lightyears away. All of the stars in said cluster are very young, at about 600 million years. By comparison our sun is 4.5 billion years old. The cluster spans 15 lightyears across, and spans about 3 full moons worth across the night sky.  An interesting aspect of this cluster is the variety in color, as many blue and yellow-orange stars can be seen.

APOD 3.5

In honor of Valentines Day, this post is about the Heart and Soul nebulae, two stunningly beautiful red emission nebulae. The Soul Nebula is found to the lower left, while the Heart nebula dominates the right side of the image. Both of these can be found in the constellation Cassiopeia, and lie about 6000 light-years away from earth. Each one spans an estimated 300 light-years across. These nebulae are useful in studying the formation of stars, especially ones of remarkable size.

APOD 3.4

The picture I chose this week is an edge on view of the spiral galaxy NGC 2683. The picture in and of itself is spectacular, with incredible resolution and many colors, as well as the natural beauty of the galaxy itself. The constellation rests at 20 million lightyears away, which seems unimaginably vast, but is in fact quite close relative to other galaxies. This galaxy is likely similar to what our own Milky Way galaxy looks like, seeing as it is of similar composition and is a spiral, just like ours. The bright point in the center of the galaxy is a collection of large yellow stars, drawn in greater concentration towards the center due to the black hole at the center of the galaxy.