Graysith
Chosen Daughter
Member # 27
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posted 10-14-2000 04:35 PM
     
Here is another simply awesome astrophoto, courtesy of NASA and the Hubble Space Telescope. It is a wonderful close-up of a portion of the Trifid Nebula, another giant molecular cloud wherein stars are born. The surrounding gases are primarily hydrogen; "clumps" of this gradually contract due to gravity, until enough pressure is produced to raise the temperature to where nuclear fusion may take place. Voila! A star is born!The little finger-like projections are the target points in which the gases are contracting. This photo is somewhat misleading: nebulae such as this one are several light-years across in size. The comparatively tiny finger-like projection is longer than the length of our entire solar system.  ------------------
[monger=000FFF,FFF000]"I Ride the Stormcloud and the Night!"[/monger]
[Edited 1 times, lastly by Graysith on October 14, 2000]
Posts: 3904 | From: Indianola, Iowa | Registered: Jul 2000 | Logged: 209.255.158.221
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