#astrophysics studyblog

[abbyofthecosmos]

Gliese 504b

Orbiting a star 57 light-years away in the constellation Virgo lies the planet GJ 504b, a gas giant that gives off an incredible magenta colour.

With an orbital period of 260 years, and a mass 4 times that of Jupiter, this is one of the lowest mass planets detected using direct imaging techniques. The pink planet is orbiting a star slightly hotter than the Sun, and estimates put the age of the system at around 160 million years old. The planet itself has a temperature of roughly 270°C and is 9 times the distance from its star as Jupiter is from the Sun.

[abbyofthecosmos]

10 • 12 • 21

Exams are over! After a long term of studying and stress I can finally relax. I'm excited to go home and see my family (and the cat of course) but I will miss this beautiful town 🌊

[abbyofthecosmos]

Internship Week 4/5

20 • 06 • 22

Last week we finished designing our own Galaxy Zoo (which I talked about a bit here) style project, and once we have the results we can start analysing the data and making our final presentation!

We need all the volunteers we can get so please follow this link and help us with the classifications (no prior astronomy knowledge necessary!) My Chemical Galaxy — Zooniverse

[abbyofthecosmos]

It's Spooky Season!

In order to celebrate, here’s an especially creepy space object for the occasion. This is the nebula Sharpless 2-136, also known as…the ghost nebula! It is a reflection nebula (reflects light from nearby stars rather than creating its own light) in the constellation Cepheus.

The nebula does indeed have a very ghostly appearance to it, including its cosmic dust pillars which take on the form of fleeing spirits.

Sharpless 2-136, some 1,200 light-years from Earth, stretches about 2 light years-across and is a site of intense star and planet formation.

I really love this nebula – the sight of the little ghost people’s flailing arms just makes me giggle. I hope you like it too! Happy spooky season everyone! 🎃