The Vast Objects in Space

Observatory / Course Archives / ASTR 110 Fall 2019 / Beukema

The Crab Nebula

The Crab Nebula, named this due to its crab-like form, is the remains of a supernova. This nebula is currently 6,500 light years away making it completely invisible without a telescope. Due to this fact, the image above was captured over a long span of time, actually months, from the Hubble Space Telescope. The Crab Nebula is one of the brightest formations in the universe, as it's around 75,000 times brighter than our sun.

The reasoning for being a nebula is based on it being the remnants of a supernova which was actually recorded by Chinese astronomers in the year 1054 A.D. as a bright guest star. Further evidence for the Crab Nebula being formed from a type II supernova is shown by observations made from gas clouds swelling. This type of occurance is typically seen in supernovas where the gasses move outward. The main components that make up the clouds of the Crab Nebula are ionised hydrogen and helium showing they were completely charged by an explosion.

Galaxy NGC 4710

Galaxy NGC 4710 is apart of the constellation Coma Berenices and can be seen from the Milk Way. The picture seen above is the galaxy all the way tilted on its side as we see it from earth. This galaxy is roughly 60 million light years away but can still be seen from earth due to its apparent luminosity. There are still a lot of unknowns about this galaxy.

The boxy shaped structure of this galaxy can be accounted to stars in the galaxy moving in a vertical fashion. This can be proved as a spiral galaxy due to its very prominent bulges, which are seen as a mystery to astronomers at this time. The velocity maps and rotation curves from the bulges of our galaxy and galaxy NGC 4710 are nearly identical, and share similar features. The also differ in the materials they are made up of.

Kepler 186-f

The radius of Kepler 186-f is very alike earths, and is located in a habitable zone which is very uncommon. It is only 10% larger than earth which is very comparable in size related to other planets in habitable zones. Surprisingly, this exoplanet may contain life because it holds stable climates, and due to its axis, regular seasons. The planet is 490 light years away from earth. Kepler 186-f is very intriguing for astronomers because it's very likely that it can hold liquid water on its surface.

The orbital period of Kepler 186-f is very short compared to earth as it orbits its host star in an astounding 130 days. The star it orbits it quite smaller than the Sun which also makes it quite cooler. This allows for the exoplanet to be habitable as it orbits its star way closer than earth. The star system in which Kepler 186f is located only contains five planets.