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Good morning RP. Today's animated gif image (so it may take some time to load) is constructed from individual photos and measurements of star positions, brightness, and color taken the Gaia satellite (launched in 2013 by the European Space Agency). The image is titled "The Gaia Stars of M15." The twinkling stars are RR Lyrae variable stars (their brightness pulses over time), and are used by astronomers to measure (extra)galactic distances.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Posted from apod.nasa.gov
NASA
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Science
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Astronomy
Posted 5 y ago
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Thank you, my friend Maj William W. 'Bill' Price for posting the NASA picture of the day for March 28, 2019 "The Gaia Stars of M15"
Image: The Gaia Stars of M15 Image Credit by Robert Vanderbei (Princeton University)
"Explanation: Messier 15 is a 13 billion year old relic of the early formative years of our galaxy, one of about 170 globular star clusters that still roam the halo of the Milky Way. About 200 light-years in diameter, it lies about 35,000 light years away toward the constellation Pegasus. But this realistic looking view of the ancient globular star cluster is not a photograph. Instead it's an animated gif image constructed from remarkably precise individual measurements of star positions, brightness, and color. The astronomically rich data set used was made by the sky-scanning Gaia satellite which also determined parallax distances for 1.3 billion Milky Way stars. In the animated gif, twinkling stars are M15's identified RR Lyrae stars. Plentiful in M15, RR Lyrae stars are evolved pulsating variable stars whose brightness and pulsation period, typically less than a day, are related."
Thank you, my friend Maj Marty Hogan for mentioning me.
FYI LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SFC William Farrell SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SSgt Brian Brakke 1stSgt Eugene Harless SSG William Jones
Image: The Gaia Stars of M15 Image Credit by Robert Vanderbei (Princeton University)
"Explanation: Messier 15 is a 13 billion year old relic of the early formative years of our galaxy, one of about 170 globular star clusters that still roam the halo of the Milky Way. About 200 light-years in diameter, it lies about 35,000 light years away toward the constellation Pegasus. But this realistic looking view of the ancient globular star cluster is not a photograph. Instead it's an animated gif image constructed from remarkably precise individual measurements of star positions, brightness, and color. The astronomically rich data set used was made by the sky-scanning Gaia satellite which also determined parallax distances for 1.3 billion Milky Way stars. In the animated gif, twinkling stars are M15's identified RR Lyrae stars. Plentiful in M15, RR Lyrae stars are evolved pulsating variable stars whose brightness and pulsation period, typically less than a day, are related."
Thank you, my friend Maj Marty Hogan for mentioning me.
FYI LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SFC William Farrell SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SSgt Brian Brakke 1stSgt Eugene Harless SSG William Jones
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Very cool and well worth the quick load. Mornign Maj William W. 'Bill' Price
LTC Stephen F. SP5 Mark Kuzinski COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter Maj William W. 'Bill' PriceCPL Dave Hoover SSG William Jones Sgt Vance Bonds SGT (Join to see) Cpl (Join to see) SGT Rick Colburn PO1 H Gene Lawrence Maj Robert Thornton PO3 Bob McCord SPC Douglas Bolton CWO3 Dennis M. Lt Col Charlie Brown TSgt Joe C. PO3 Craig Phillips CW5 Jack Cardwell
LTC Stephen F. SP5 Mark Kuzinski COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter Maj William W. 'Bill' PriceCPL Dave Hoover SSG William Jones Sgt Vance Bonds SGT (Join to see) Cpl (Join to see) SGT Rick Colburn PO1 H Gene Lawrence Maj Robert Thornton PO3 Bob McCord SPC Douglas Bolton CWO3 Dennis M. Lt Col Charlie Brown TSgt Joe C. PO3 Craig Phillips CW5 Jack Cardwell
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Beautiful photo. We've gotten a lot better and more creative at figuring out how to measure distances and directions within the galaxies.
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