Water Creatures
Starfish Arm Wrestling
by CritterKeeper on Feb.25, 2010, under Water Creatures
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and K. Noll (STScI)
These galaxies seem to me like starfish arm wrestling or tossing a ball. NGC 6050 and IC 1179 offer a stunning example of merging spiral galaxies in this image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
Starfish
by CritterKeeper on Feb.19, 2010, under Water Creatures
Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Six lobes of gas and dust outline the legs of a starfish in this image of planetary nebula He 2–47. The nebula puffed off material at least three times at the end of its life, firing off jets of gas in opposite directions.
Wobbly Jellyfish
by CritterKeeper on Feb.09, 2010, under Water Creatures
Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Sometimes planetary nebula expand in what look like smooth bubbles. But others take on a wobbly appearance which in some cases are oddly symmetrical. In this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 5307, each blob of gas seems to have a counterpart on the opposite side of the nebula. Astronomers call these spiral planetary nebula. It is thought that the bright central white dwarf star spews out wobbling jet of rapidly moving gas from both ends of the star, spinning around like a top that is about to topple over.
Veiled Fish
by CritterKeeper on Feb.08, 2010, under Water Creatures
Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Wispy filaments of the Veil Nebula resemble a fish with multi-colored fins in this image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The scattered pieces of the Veil Nebula are all that remains of a brilliant supernova that exploded 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. The entire nebula spans a huge area in the sky equivalent to six full moons.
Deep Space Drama
by CritterKeeper on Feb.04, 2010, under Water Creatures
Credit: NASA, ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI).
Drama plays out in deep space as a small fish swims from the jaws of a larger creature.
A Thousand Tadpoles
by CritterKeeper on Feb.01, 2010, under Water Creatures
Credit: NASA & ESA
A thousand cosmic tadpoles appear to stream toward the central star of the Helix Nebula in this image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
Streaking Dolphins
by CritterKeeper on Jan.22, 2010, under Water Creatures
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Streaks in the dunes of Mars remind me of playful dolphins in this image from NASA’s HiRISE camera aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. HiRISE began imaging Mars again just last month after technicians decided that whatever caused a series of computer glitches aboard the spacecraft would not threaten the mission. HiRISE and the other scientific instruments aboard MRO had gone into “safe-mode” in August. HiRISE is returning spectacular imagery now.
Cosmic Sea Turtle
by CritterKeeper on Jan.21, 2010, under Water Creatures
Credit: NASA & ESA
A cosmic sea turtle, lobster or butterfly dives into a cosmic sea in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 6240. This peculiar image shows the collision of two smaller galaxies. While called collisions, these galaxies are merging together. Gas and dust bump together to form new stars. Existing stars themselves are not really disrupted by the merger. After several million years the stars will settle into new orbits around a new galactic center. Observations from NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory show two giant black holes, the centers of the two galaxies, closing in on each other. Right now, they are only about 3,000 light years apart. Eventually they will merge into a single black hole and become the center of the new galaxy that is forming.
Whale of a Galaxy
by CritterKeeper on Jan.20, 2010, under Water Creatures
Credit: NASA & ESA and J. Dalcanton and B. Williams (University of Washington, Seattle)
This galactic whale is actually a spiral galaxy. But in this image of NGC 2976 from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, it sure doesn’t look like one.
Leaping Fish
by CritterKeeper on Jan.04, 2010, under Water Creatures
Credit: NASA & ESA and A. Pellerin (STScI)
What looks like a leaping fish is really a nearby barred spiral galaxy called NGC 1313.
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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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