#cosmic reef

[spacewonder19]

Cosmic Reef in Large Magellanic Cloud © Hubble

[quiltofstars]

The Cosmic Reef in the LMC // Neil Corke

[brightestofcentaurus]

NGC 2014 and NGC 2020

“This Hubble image shows how young, energetic, massive stars illuminate and sculpt their birthplace with powerful winds and searing ultraviolet radiation.

In this Hubble portrait, the giant red nebula (NGC 2014) and its smaller blue neighbor (NGC 2020) are part of a vast star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located 163,000 light-years away. The image is nicknamed the "Cosmic Reef," because the nebulas resemble an undersea world.

The sparkling centerpiece of NGC 2014 is a grouping of bright, hefty stars, each 10 to 20 times more massive than our Sun. The stars' ultraviolet radiation heats the surrounding dense gas. The massive stars also unleash fierce winds of charged particles that blast away lower-density gas, forming the bubble-like structures seen on the right, which resemble coral. The stars' powerful stellar winds are pushing gas and dust to the denser left side of the nebula, where it is piling up, creating a series of dark ridges bathed in starlight. The blue areas in NGC 2014 reveal the glow of oxygen, heated to nearly 20,000 degrees Fahrenheit by the blast of ultraviolet light. The cooler, red gas indicates the presence of hydrogen and nitrogen.

By contrast, the seemingly isolated blue nebula at lower left (NGC 2020) has been created by a solitary mammoth star 200,000 times brighter than our Sun. The blue gas was ejected by the star through a series of eruptive events during which it lost part of its outer envelope of material.

The image, taken by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, commemorates the Earth-orbiting observatory's 30 years in space.”

Image and information from NASA (4/24/2020)

[zespaceblog]

The Cosmic Reef 

To mark the 30th Birthday of Hubble, it turned it’s attention to the Large Magellanic clouds a dwarf galaxy near to our Milky Way and two nebula NGC 2014 and its smaller blue neighbor NGC 2020. 

The amazing contrast in colours are reminiscent of a underwater scene, hence it’s name, but what both are, are remnants of dead stars that are dense enough to begin the process of forming pro-stars. 

So in effect, what you’re looking at here is the birth place of stars in another galaxy, albeit a orbiting dwarf one.

[theblessed-unrest]

I still can’t get over this picture (nicknamed the “Cosmic Reef”) released to celebrate the Hubble’s 30th anniversary. It fills me with such hope during this partial lockdown where my mobility is restricted to within my house (which, to be fair, is more than ample space and something I’m very grateful for). 

Doesn’t it blow your mind that approximately 163,000 light-years away, in this Large Magellanic Cloud - a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way - stellar nurseries (I love how poetic this sounds, though it’s actually literal) are bringing forth new stars? Stars that are at least 10 times bigger than the Sun? 

What strikes me is how this photograph so beautifully captured growth and things in motion - more than any long-exposure photos of star trails or light streaks I’ve seen capture. This is truly otherworldly and resonates with me and touches me in ways that only novel metaphors can. The luminescent clouds filling the landscape of this picture is a result of the gases and powerful winds being emanated by the star cluster in the middle of the picture. The red hues come from the hydrogen gas while the blues are from the oxygen gas heated to roughly 11,000 degrees Celsius (can you imagine - the Sun is approximately 5,505 degrees Celsius!). It’s such an inspiring image of how expansive the world is and insignificant we are - especially in times like this where the whole world seems limited to the four walls around us.

[quiltofstars]

The Cosmic Reef // bbonic

Among the "coral" are NGC 2014 (top, red), NGC 2020 (top, blue), NGC 2032 (bottom, blue), and NGC 2040 (bottom, red).

[spacewonder19]

Cosmic Reef NGC 2014 © edholtastro

[spacewonder19]

Seagull & Cosmic Reef Nebulae © Bob Wengewicz