THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
(207) 780-4249 usm.maine.edu/planet
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
2022-2023: XXXVIII
Sunrise: 6:27 a.m.
Sunset: 4:22 p.m.
Civil twilight ends: 4:52 p.m.
Sun's host constellation: Libra the Scales
Moon phase: Waning Gibbous (98% illuminated)
Moonrise: 4:58 p.m.
Moonset: 8:49 a.m. (11/10/2022)
Julian date: 2459892.21
"Spider webs are not webs. They are the life paths of myriad luminous micro-sprites who are confined to the regions we perceive as the webbings, just as we are confined to the streets, buildings and pathways of the world. They lead very short lives before they transform into spores that the wind conveys to alternate universes that we see as other spider webs. They move so quickly during their lives that their light seems to create a solid pattern, just as fan blades can produce the illusion of either a solid disc or no disc at all. When you stare at a spider web, even if it is just for a moment, you're observing a scintilimon -the collective noun for micro-sprites numbering greater than 625, which is the square of 25, the base unit of their numbering system derived, likely, from the 25 photon emitting globules that line the circumference of their heads- of luminous micro sprites living out their entire lives in what to us is a flash, but to them is a protracted life span in which they are as beset with travails as we are. If you're staring at a spider web, the micro sprites are perceiving you as a constellation: immortal and unchanging. They see you as the one immutable aspect of their lives so that the micro sprites who first beheld you in their infancy while awakening to the strange cosmos will in their old age (ten seconds later for you) be comforted by your presence as they prepare to lapse off into what for them is the undiscovered country but, to us, is the glistening spider web along a nearby tree."
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Thursday, November 10, 2022
The "Enterprise" Nebulae
Oh, perfect.
This is precisely what we need: another example of the Universe imitating Star Trek. Pictured below are nebulae that -according to Star Trek's legions of religious devotees- resemble both the Enterprise craft commanded by James Tiberius Kirk (on the right) and the updated vessel helmed by Jean-Luc Picard (on the left.) Outlines of said ships are provided on the second image for the benefit of non-Trekkies: you know, the poor, deprived sods who don't possess items such as Spock-ear pencil sharpeners or Russet potatoes polished to resemble Patrick Stewart's cranium.
The "Enterprise" Nebulae. These star formation regions within our galaxy are said to somewhat resemble the two iconic space craft depicted in "Star Trek" and "Star Trek: the Next Generation." The Spitzer Telescope captured these images, technically known as IRAS 19340+2016 and IRAS19343+2026.
Before one rushes outside to admire these formations through their telescopes, we should let you know that they are far too faint for such telescopes and are, besides, enshrouded behind a haze of dust. Spitzer captured these images through infrared observations. Infrared is the lower energy section of the EM spectrum just "below" visible red. The "colors" relate to the different wavelengths of the captured light. The blue is from regions of 3.5 microns; the red is from the 24 micron range and the green is from 8 microns. Those red areas show the hottest parts of the nebula; whereas the green highlight the region containing organic molecules.
We're seeing a nebulae in the process of producing a copious amount of stars. As such a process requires millions of years, we're witnessing the briefest sliver of the nebulae' life span. Astronomers are able to piece together the highly intricate stellar formation process by studying many nebulae at various developmental stages.
The Enterprise Nebulae will someday give rise to stars, planets and, perhaps, star-faring species. We have the privilege of watching these solar systems in the process of development. They'll have the privilege of having been spawned by clouds resembling the Star Trek Enterprise. For this, alone, they are already envied by thousands. Heaven help us.
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