Tag: star formation
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.
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.
Black Widow
by CritterKeeper on Jan.18, 2010, under Bugs
Credit: NASA/JPL–Caltech/E. Churchwell (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and the GLIMPSE Team
A cosmic spider-shaped nebula hides in a dark corner of space. Astronomers looking toward the constellation Circinus with earth-based telescopes saw only a fuzzy, hourglass-shaped patch of light. But when they turned the dust-piercing, infrared light gathering NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope at this spot in the sky, they discovered a nebula blooming with clusters of massive young stars. Astronomers called it the “Black Widow Nebula.”
Praying Mantis in the Cloud
by CritterKeeper on Jan.08, 2010, under Bugs
Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
The dark silhouette of a mantis stands out in this cloud of glowing gas. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope reveals details inside the star-producing nebula N81 in the Small Magellanic Cloud.
Small Galactic Caterpillar
by CritterKeeper on Jan.07, 2010, under Bugs
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI
A long tail flows behind this galactic caterpillar. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope takes a big view of the Small Magellanic Cloud.
Starry Presents
by CritterKeeper on Dec.15, 2009, under Water Creatures
Credit: NASA, ESA, and F. Paresce (INAF-IASF, Bologna, Italy), R. O’Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville), and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee
Here is a present to put under the Christmas Tree Nebula from yesterday. In this new image of the star–forming region R136 from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope WFC3, astronomers take a close look at this region of the 30 Doradus Nebula. The region is only a few million years old. R136 is 170,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud. 30 Doradus is the largest, most active star–making region astronomers know of.
Spacey Tree
by CritterKeeper on Dec.14, 2009, under Plants and Flowers
Credit: NASA/JPL–Caltech/P.S. Teixeira (Center for Astrophysics)
Whether you see a Christmas tree or snowflake, this nebula represents winter. Trace the dim triangular pattern of the tree in the wisps of green and yellow. Or follow the pattern of a snowflake in the center group of stars in this Spitzer Space Telescope image of the Christmas Tree Nebula.
Wispy Portrait
by CritterKeeper on Dec.08, 2009, under General
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Often when we look deep into these star clouds, we stop seeing patterns. It’s thrilling to get caught up in the swirls of gas and wispy clouds of dust. In this image of N 180B from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, we find splashes of color from intense blues and purples to vivid shades of red and orange.
Southern Pinwheel
by CritterKeeper on Nov.09, 2009, under Eyes in the Sky
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
M83, or the Southern Pinwheel, is undergoing star formation on a much faster scale than our own Milky Way Galaxy. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured amazing detail of the curving spiral arms and bright galactic core of this nearby spiral galaxy. The core is the bright whitish area to the right of the image. Follow the spiraling arc of stars. Hundreds of thousands of young star clusters are forming along the spiral arm. Ancient globular clusters are also seen in the image.
Dragon Mist
by CritterKeeper on Nov.05, 2009, under Fantasy Creatures
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
A brownish dragon rises from the blue mist in this image of a star–forming area by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
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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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