Extraordinary Spiral
by CritterKeeper on Sep.08, 2010, under Eyes in the Sky
Credit: ESA/NASA & R. Sahai
Sometimes we view NASA Hubble Space Telescope images and see things we just don’t believe. This striking spiral is thought to be created by material spinning out of LL Pegasi.
:AFGL 3068, ESA, Hubble Space Telescope, IRAS 23166+1655, LL Pegasi, NASA, planetary nebula, spiral more...
Death Throes
by CritterKeeper on Sep.07, 2010, under Eyes in the Sky
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ J. Hora (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)
Comet collisions may be kicking up dust in the Helix Nebula in this image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.
:Helix Nebula, NASA, planetary nebula, Spitzer Space Telescope, white dwarf more...
A Slice of Lemon
by CritterKeeper on Aug.12, 2010, under Eyes in the Sky
Credit: Howard Bond (Space Telescope Science Institute), Robin Ciardullo (Pennsylvania State University) and NASA
IC 3568 glows like a lemony plasma globe in this image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
:Camelopardalis, Hubble Space Telescope, IC 3568, NASA, planetary nebula more...
Piercing Eye
by CritterKeeper on Aug.04, 2010, under Eyes in the Sky
Credit: NASA and ESA
A dramatic, piercing eye gazes back at us from the sky in this image of NGC 3918 from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
:Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, ngc 3918, planetary nebula, white dwarf more...
“H” is for Hamburger
by CritterKeeper on Jun.29, 2010, under Numbers/Letters
Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Would you like fries with that giant cosmic hamburger? Gomez’s Hamburger is a strange planetary nebula that resembles the upright bars of the letter H in this image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. It doesn’t take much imagination to add the bar across the middle to complete the shape of the letter. Astronomers thought the nebula looked like a hamburger. Actually, it’s a sun-like star nearing the end of its life. The central star, which we cannot see in this image, expelled large amounts of gas and dust and may one day develop a more familiar colorful, glowing planetary nebula.
:Gomez's Hamburger, Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, planetary nebula, Sagittarius more...
Anthill
by CritterKeeper on Jun.09, 2010, under Bugs, birds and other animals
Image Credit: NASA, ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Acknowledgment: R. Sahai (Jet Propulsion Lab) and B. Balick (University of Washington)
The Hubble Space Telescope shows us another example of how our Sun might die in 5 billion years. The “Ant Nebula, ” or Menzel 3, shows two glowing bubbles coming out from the dying star. Astronomers are most curious about the equal shape of the bubble on either side of the star. This symmetry offers scientists a chance to come up with many different ideas on the cause.
:Ant Nebula, ESA, Hubble, hubble images, hubble pictures, Hubble Space Telescope, Menzel 3, Mz 3, NASA, Norma, planetary nebula, Scorpius, sun's death more...
Cat’s Eye
by CritterKeeper on Jun.04, 2010, under Eyes in the Sky
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, HEIC, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Ancient men used to believe that the stars were eyes in the sky, loved ones looking and watching over them. What ancient men didn’t know was that there really appear to be eyes in the sky.
:Cat's Eye Nebula, eyes, Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, NGC 6543 more...
Eight-Burst
by CritterKeeper on May.28, 2010, under Numbers/Letters
Credit: The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA/NASA)
Shaped like the number eight, astronomers in the southern hemisphere call this the Eight-Burst or the Southern Ring Nebula. NGC 3132 is a planetary nebula. The name “planetary nebula” refers to the shape of the nebula. Astronomers in the 17th and 18th centuries found many objects in the night sky that resembled planets. But the expanding shells of gas and dust are all that is left of a star that has reached the end of its life.
:dying stars, Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, NGC 3132, planetary nebula, Vela more...
Glowing Waves Make 4
by CritterKeeper on May.21, 2010, under Numbers/Letters
Credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA
Glowing waves of material ejected from a dying star trace out the number four in this image of IC 4634 from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
:Hubble Space Telescope, IC 4634, NASA, planetary nebula more...
Zero
by CritterKeeper on May.17, 2010, under Numbers/Letters
Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
We’re starting a new series here at Starry Critters; numbers and letters. Today’s image is brought to you by the number zero.
:Hoag's Object, Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, number, ring galaxy, Serpens more...
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Welcome to Starry Critters!
Thanks for dropping by! This site combines incredible imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope and other great observatories with the imagination of children. Explore and share the patterns you see in the nebula, galaxies and star clusters.Note to Parents and Educators:
The main focus of the site are the images of space. We believe the explanations are best suited for parents, educators and upper grade students. Parents may find it helpful to view the site with their children and explore the universe together using the explanatory text as a guide. Background text is provided to let you know the real story behind the image. Links, very useful for parents and teachers, include definitions and will take you to other sites for even more detail.
Zoom in and out and pan around the images to find your own patterns in the stars. Be creative and think outside the box.Tell us your stories and let us know what you find! Feel free to join the discussion by leaving comments, and stay updated by subscribing to the RSS feed.
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