klimkovsky

[klimkovsky]

May 3, 2025 — album «Pillars of Creation» on Beata Pardela's radio show «Elektroniczne Brzmieni» on El-Stacja radio

Dear friends, on Saturday evening, May 3, 2025, Beata Pardela and I — composer Andrey Klimkovsky — invite you to the radio show «Elektroniczne Brzmienia» («Electronic Sounds») on the online station El-Stacja, which many of you likely know well.

This will be the final episode of «Electronic Sounds» before our summer break, and it’s dedicated entirely to my album «Pillars of Creation». Released in 2021, this album remains vibrant and is considered by many electronic music fans to be the best in my discography (Bandcamp stats back this up!). Beata shares this view, which is why she chose «Pillars of Creation» for our spring 2025 finale.

The album will play in full — no cuts. Beata will kick things off with a short talk about its creation, the meaning behind the letters on the cover, and the profound impact this music has on listeners (she’ll share her personal experience). I’ll be in the station’s chat, ready to chime in and connect with you. While the album plays, we’ll have plenty of time to chat — maybe that’s the real highlight! This show won’t be archived — you won’t find it recorded later. You have to be there, live, in the moment.

In recent years, we’ve grown used to postponing things, putting off what could enrich our lives, and letting it slip away. That’s made life feel less vibrant.

But the paradigm is shifting — for the better.

The chances to delay, reschedule, or “catch it later” are fading. Instead, opportunities to live life fully, in real time, are growing.

Don’t miss this one.

See you on the air!

«Elektroniczne Brzmienia» starts Saturday, May 3, 2025, at 19:00 UTC.

(At 09:00 PM Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw. At 03 PM New York, 12:00 San Francisco)

Link to El-Stacja:

https://www.el-stacja.pl/

[klimkovsky]

California Nebula

It is claimed (though the source of this claim remains unknown) that the nebula NGC 1499 got its name for its resemblance to the shape of the California coastline. But who exactly gave the nebula this name is an open question. There are a couple of interesting coincidences here. First, if you observe this nebula from central California, it will pass exactly through the zenith - the geographic latitude of the center of the state and the declination of the nebula coincide. Second, the nebula was discovered by Edward Emerson Barnard in 1884, who was still an amateur astronomer at the time (he became an employee of the Lick Observatory three years later - in 1987, and this observatory is located right in the state of California).

But to be honest, spotting the silhouette of the Pacific coastline around California in the barely visible glow of a rather dim nebula is a matter bordering on deliberate intent.

Edward Emerson Barnard, American astronomer. (1857 - 1923)

The California Nebula is more of a photographic object than a visual one. The integral brightness of the nebula is estimated at 5m - as if it were visible to the eye (in fact, it is not!), but its glow stretches into an elongated cloud with an arc length of 2.5 - 3 degrees. Perhaps only with a very high-aperture and wide-angle binocular can California be seen visually.

But photographic astronomy perfectly captures the image of this nebula, and it has become the heroine of countless amateur and professional photographs. The only thing that can be added to this is that the largest telescopes are not able to capture California in one frame. To photograph this nebula, the Hubble telescope would need several hundred exposures. Therefore, Hubble did not photograph it.

California Nebula on a star map, in the constellation Perseus

What is the California Nebula?

The California Nebula is located near the bright strip of the autumn Milky Way — in the constellation Perseus. The landmark for detecting the nebula is the not very bright star ξ (Xi) Persei named Menkib (from Arabic “Shoulder”). This star of the 4th magnitude is responsible for the glow of the entire nebula. Simply because there is no one else to bear such responsibility in this area of ​​the sky.

To excite the glow of an emission nebula (California is exactly that — a cloud of ionized hydrogen) not just a star is needed, but a giant star of the spectral class O or at least B — with high luminosity in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. And here Menkib comes in very handy. This is a star with a mass of about 30 solar masses, and belongs to the spectral class O with a surface temperature of 35 thousand degrees Kelvin — one of the hottest stars in our Galaxy. To the eye, this is not a very bright star. But this is only because we are separated by 1,200 light years. The California Nebula is about the same distance away — thanks to Menkib, and without him we would not have known how far it is from us. However, you can find other distance values ​​online — from 1,000 to 1,800 light years. And this is explained by the fact that the parallax measurement method for such distant stars is unreliable, and for nebulae it is impossible at all. There are other methods — by the luminosity characteristic of blue giants, but they provide even less accuracy.

Some researchers believe that Menkib was born in the California Nebula. But this is a dubious assumption, because the high proper speed (more than 65 km/sec relative to the Sun) most likely indicates that Menkib is simply flying past the nebula, and belongs to the disintegrating association of hot giants OB2 Persei — together with the neighboring star ζ Persei.

The California Nebula itself is not standing still either and, according to some assumptions, is beginning to plunge into the heavily dusty space of the spiral arms of our Galaxy - this can be seen by the bright shock front located on the side of the nebula that faces the Milky Way. Detailed images here reveal a richly detailed patchiness - as if the foam of sea waves "boils" when meeting the coast of California on its way. This is how interstellar dust, meeting ionized hydrogen on its way, creates density waves, additionally heated by this shock wave. And this is no longer the merit of the star Menkib, which "illuminates" the nebula from the other side.

According to rough estimates, the hydrogen cloud, visible to us as the faintly glowing California Nebula, has a length of about 100 light years. But this is only the part of the nebula that we can see. Surely there is also an invisible part - not excited by the radiation of any stars - and the full extent of the California Nebula may be much greater.

The beautiful photo of the California Nebula, which became the basis for the video illustration for this story, was taken by American astrophotographer Chuck Ayoub.

The music track from my album "Oort Cloud" was used.

The California Nebula in the constellation Perseus. Photo by American astrophotographer Chuck Ayoub

Original astrophotography: link

Chuck Ayoub: X (Twitter) Instagram Youtube Facebook

[klimkovsky]

Orion Nebula

The icon in the Temple of Deep Space, the Orion Nebula, is clearly visible to the naked eye in the dark sky. But it only caught the eye of astronomers in the era of the first telescopes, and this grandiose nebula was discovered with the help of a telescope, and not immediately.

Galileo Galilei repeatedly observed the central part of the asterism "Orion's Sword" and even discovered the trinity of the central star in it - Theta Orionis. But Galileo did not notice the nebula entangling the star in the Sword. Perhaps it was due to the peculiarities of the optics of Galileo's first telescopes - it was rather dark, not very light-sensitive. However, his contemporaries - Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, Johann Baptist Cysat, Giovanni Battista Hodierna - already armed with optics, independently of each other observed a "bright, shimmering cloud" around the central star of Orion's Sword. But in those years, the telescopes themselves spread around the world much faster than the results of the observations carried out with their help. Already in 1610 - literally the year of Galileo's sensational premiere - dozens of astronomers and even European universities acquired telescopes (this was not prohibited by anyone). But the reports on the observations remained private. In addition, there was no email or social media back then. Historians still find unpublished observation results in the archives of various institutions and change the name of the discoverer of a particular nebula. Not long ago it became known that the first European observer to discover the Orion Nebula through a telescope was Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc.

The location of the Orion Nebula on the star map is in the southern part of the constellation of the same name - under the three-star Belt of Orion, around the central star of the asterism "Orion's Sword"

At the same time, there are interpretations of the mythological legends of the Maya Indians that they saw the Nebula among the stars of the Orion constellation (of course, the Indians had a completely different constellation in this part of the sky). But it is hardly worth taking these interpretations seriously. Most likely, they stem from the modern trend of exaggerating the importance and developing a cult of secret knowledge in the heritage of non-European cultures.

It is worth remembering that, for example, the Central American Indians point-blank did not see Columbus's ships approaching the shore - simply because they did not expect to see ships sailing from where, according to the ideas of the indigenous peoples of America, there was nothing.

For the same reason, astronomers of antiquity and the Middle Ages did not see the Orion Nebula with the naked eye. In those eras, the state of the atmosphere and the absence of light pollution in every possible way contributed to the fact that the nebula was discovered. But this did not happen - until the first telescopic observations.

The author of this story saw the Orion Nebula with his own eyes more than once. Every time I found myself at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Winter, I admired its glow in the winter sky of the Crimean Mountains, which are not at all high, but were already in the steadily expanding zone of light pollution. However, I knew that the central star in Orion's Sword was shrouded in a Nebula, and that is why it glowed so unusually - it was fluffy and slightly blurred - not as point-like as the other stars in its vicinity.

It can be assumed that Theta Orionis, which is quite bright for the absolutely black sky of the Balkans, did not allow the astronomers of ancient Greece to clearly see the nebula - they saw the star and calmed down. And the fact that it is strange - well, there are many strange things in the sky...

The Orion Sword asterism on the star map — close-up. In the center, the Great and Small Orion Nebulae are practically merged. Above them is another nebula — the Running Man Nebula

However, since the time when knowledge about this nebula became known to the scientific community, it has attracted a significant share of the attention of observers. The nebula began to be called the Great Orion Nebula. This was also facilitated by the discovery of another nebula nearby, which for some time was called the Small Orion Nebula, until they came to the conclusion that this was all one and the same nebula. Now this small fragment is called the de Mairan Nebula (named after its discoverer, Jean-Jacques de Mairan). Charles Messier included the Great and Small Orion Nebulae in his catalog under different numbers - M42 and M43, respectively, and in the New General Catalog they appear as different objects - NGC 1976 and NGC 1982, although even in modern amateur photographs (as well as when observed in very small telescopes) both of these nebulae merge together. By the way, the Orion Nebula is so large in visual terms that astronomers (but more often - at the suggestion of amateurs) had to invent separate names to describe certain fragments of it - "Sinus Obscurus", "Sinus Magnus", "Fish Mouth", "The Sword", "The Thrust", "The Sail" - all these unofficial "provinces" of the foggy "empire" are plotted on amateur and professional maps of the Orion Nebula. Otherwise, one could get lost in its shining filaments, plasma flows and dust tunnels.

Each new stage in the study of the Orion Nebula amazed the imagination of researchers, and brought with it amazing revelations about the structure of the Universe.

William Herschel was the first to suggest that the Orion Nebula is a cluster of material for the formation of stars that have not yet been born. In his era, it was not possible to prove or disprove such bold statements. But later studies confirmed that new stars are indeed being born here, and the Orion Nebula is nothing more than one of the largest star-forming regions in the Galaxy.

The Orion Nebula was honored to be the first Nebula in history to be photographed. The very first photo taken in 1880 by Henry Draper revealed the most complex detailing of this cosmic substance, resembling a giant flower, which puzzled scientists for a long time - all these fibers, dark and light veins - testified to the violent processes taking place before our eyes. And indeed - a comparison of photographs taken in different years revealed unexpected dynamics of the nebula - the nebula lives and changes literally before the eyes of scientists. Of course, this took time, but the sharper the telescopes became, the more obvious the changes in the appearance of the Orion Nebula, especially its central part, became.

One of the first photographs of the Orion Nebula, taken by Andrew Common in 1883

The heart of the Orion Nebula is the so-called "Orion's Trapezium" - a former multiple star, and now the status of this star system has risen to an open star cluster.

The central star in the "Orion's Sword" is a so-called "wide pair" - easily separated by the lightest optics (the most keen-sighted people can separate Theta 1 and Theta 2 without optics - there is about 3 minutes of arc between them, like the components of Epsilon Lyrae).

The more northern and western of Theta - Theta 1 - looks like a "Trapezium" - a 4-star system of distinctly blue (if not to say - blue) stars. Three of them were discovered by Galileo, and the fourth - by slightly later observers of his era. The name "Orion's Trapezium" was introduced by Robert Julius Trumpler (American astronomer) in 1931, although by that time 8 components had already been reliably confirmed in the system, and their number only increased. Now Theta 1 is considered a 16-fold system, some components of which reveal themselves only by periodic Doppler shift of lines in the spectrum, or eclipse effects. And in addition, many such stars have been discovered in the Orion's Trapezium cluster, whose fate was not determined until recently - their speeds seemed excessive for a stable long-term stay in the cluster. One of the modern hypotheses explaining such high speeds of some stars in the cluster places a black hole with a mass of about 100 solar masses in the center of the Theta 1 Orionis system - then everything comes together, and the Orion's Trapezium cluster becomes stable. And if not, it would have disintegrated long ago.

A close-up of the Orion Trapezium and the central part of the nebula. Image taken with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

All the stars observed in the Nebula (as well as the Orion Nebula itself in its modern form) are very young inhabitants of the Universe. For example, the age of the blue and extremely hot giants from the Orion Trapezium does not exceed 3 million years - they are literally the same age as all of Humanity. And it is thanks to the radiation of these stars that we can observe the entire Nebula. The rest of its luminaries provide only 10-15% of the ionization of the interstellar gas. Without the Trapezium, there would be a so-so nebula here, perhaps a massive one, with great potential, but completely unnoticeable against the background of other nebula formations that shroud the entire constellation. The stars of the Orion Trapezium not only provide the Nebula with its visibility, they gradually disperse the material of the nebula - their powerful stellar winds accelerate the substance from which they themselves were born relatively recently, to the periphery of the nebula, where the hydrogen clouds will no longer be illuminated so brightly by anything. Although, it is possible that the shock wave driven by the stellar winds of the Trapezium will lead to the compaction of matter and the birth of new stars, which will be no less massive, hot and bright.

How exactly the fate of the Orion Nebula will develop, scientists have yet to find out. And largely for this reason, the Orion Nebula has attracted the close attention of the largest telescopes - both on Earth and in space - in recent decades.

Protoplanetary disk Proplyd 106-417 in the Orion Nebula. Image taken with the Hubble Space Telescope

It turned out that most of the inhabitants of the Nebula are brown dwarfs - objects occupying an intermediate position between stars and planets. There are thousands of them here, maybe tens of thousands - it is very difficult to count them all, because they barely glow in the visible range of the spectrum, and only recently commissioned James Webb telescope, studying the Universe in infrared light, revealed many brown dwarfs in the Orion Nebula, and even discovered the first double system, where both components are brown dwarfs.

Here - in the Orion Nebula - the first rogue planets were discovered, existing separately from any stars, gravitationally not connected to anything, but simply drifting along the Nebula.

Most of the blue giants, which make up the figure of the constellation Orion, were born in the Orion Nebula, but left it as a result of unstable gravitational interactions. The nebula, like a sling, throws out stars so that they do not interfere with the process of creating new luminaries with their stellar winds. Some of the Nebula's exiles managed to reach neighboring constellations. At least three noticeable and fast stars have been identified that left the Orion Nebula in its recent past. These are the stars Mu Columba, AE Aurigae, and 53 Aries. Studying their trajectories led scientists back to the "Orion's Trapezium," from where the listed luminaries were thrown out several million years ago. Now they are moving away from their birthplace at a speed exceeding 100 kilometers per second.

Protoplanetary disks have been discovered near some stars immersed in the Orion Nebula using direct observation. This is again the merit of the James Webb telescope and its infrared colleagues. Scientists are not sure that any protoplanetary disk will evolve into a full-fledged and stable planetary system, since it is difficult to assess the destructive influence of stellar winds from the blue giants of the Nebula throughout its entire length. However, the discovery of protoplanetary disks around stars in the Orion Nebula indicates that the formation of such disks is a single process along with the formation of the star itself.

Orion's Sword and the Orion Nebula in horizontal orientation. Image taken with the VISTA Survey Infrared Telescope

The Orion Nebula does not end where the glow of its filaments fades in the most detailed astrophotographs — its matter extends further, filling the entire space within the Orion constellation (at some distance from the Solar System). It may seem strange, but astronomers — with all their attention to this nebula — cannot name the exact distance to it. The value published in many sources is rather the result of some agreement — 1300 light years. Although some studies give a range of values ​​from 1000 to 1600 light years. The truth is most likely somewhere in the middle, but this is not the most scientific assumption.

Based on modern estimates of the distance to the nebula, its linear dimensions are 25x35 light years (we are talking, of course, about the visible — manifested — part of the nebula), and the mass is about 10 thousand solar masses. Moreover, the stellar population within the Nebula (excluding brown dwarfs) is estimated at several thousand stars.

The constellation Orion and the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. The Orion Nebula barely stands out in this remarkable image by Rogelio Bernal Andreo

In the winter sky, the Orion Nebula is surrounded by many other nebulae, some no less impressive. Most of them are indeed connected to the Orion Nebula and together form the so-called “Orion Molecular Cloud Complex”. A couple of decades ago, we only heard about it, but never saw it. Now, with the development of technologies in the field of amateur astrophotography, almost every novice astrophotographer is able to capture all the gas and dust wealth of the Perseus-Orion spiral arm, in which, albeit a little on the edge, the Sun with its retinue of planets keeps its galactic path. Fortunately, the path lies far from such impressive foggy structures, and therefore we are fine and calm here (although we do not really appreciate it). But the origins of our existence go back to those galactic distances, full of foggy and dusty swirls, where about 5 billion years ago the Sun was formed and somehow acquired planets. And there is no better place for this in the Galaxy than a grandiose hydrogen nebula with winding veins of dust filaments - neither stars nor planets are born in the rarefied interstellar medium. But when everything important has already been created, it is better to live far away from the epicenter of star formation. And as you can see, this is approximately how everything happens in the Universe. Nebulae give birth to stars, and stars disperse nebulae, and scatter each other in different directions so as not to create unnecessary fuss in a small space.

When the Orion Nebula finally disperses, a beautiful and bright cluster reminiscent of the Pleiades will remain in its place for some time, and then it will disintegrate. And only then, on the planets around those stars that survive until better times, will the most favorable conditions for such a fragile universal phenomenon that we associate with the word "life" reign.

***

When choosing the main illustration for this story, I couldn't make a choice for a long time. It is possible that the Orion Nebula is the leader in the number of absolutely incredible spectacular pictures taken by both professionals and amateurs. In the end, for some inexplicable reason, the astrophotography of a completely unknown astrophotographer Itto Ogami "won" (I couldn't find him anywhere except on the website AstroBin), and most likely a pseudonym was used here. Nevertheless, the image is truly superb. In addition to the Orion Nebula, it also includes the "Running Man" nebula, reminding us that even the Great Orion Nebula is part of something bigger.

The Orion Nebula (right) and the Running Man Nebula (left side of the frame - it is dominated by blue and cyan shades). Astrophotographer Itto Ogami

Original image: https://www.astrobin.com/gsyei2/

The video (which is where the story begins) features music from the studio experimental session «Fantasies about the Worlds»

[klimkovsky]

Horsehead Nebula

The whimsical image of a chess knight in profile among the stars is perhaps the most recognizable among deep space objects. It can be said that the Horsehead Nebula tops the recognition rankings among nebulae and galaxies. Perhaps the Andromeda and Orion Nebulae resonate more with the general public, but only specialists and advanced amateurs know what they look like. Even among them, there are often cases when the famous Andromeda Galaxy is confused with another galaxy, even by experienced popularizers of astronomy. The Orion Nebula, too, can look different in pictures taken with various filters. Yet, the profile of the chess knight allows every inhabitant of Earth to recognize that in front of them is the one-of-a-kind and completely unique Horsehead Nebula.

Let's begin by noting that when we talk about the Horsehead Nebula, we refer to two fundamentally different formations in this region of our Galaxy. Only together do they create this memorable visual image. Moreover, what we see—the glowing diffuse background—is not the Horsehead Nebula. It is a dark silhouette against a light background—a bizarrely shaped dust cloud opaque to the visible radiation of stars and nebulae. If there were no relatively bright emission nebula behind it, we might not even know about any dark gas-dust cosmic horse.

The background for the recognizable horse profile is created by the hydrogen nebula IC 434, discovered by William Herschel in the late 18th century. However, Herschel did not notice any amusing details in the outline of this nebula, although he was an excellent observer—much more keen-sighted and attentive than most of his followers. There are also objective reasons for this—telescopes in Herschel's era were imperfect, and their dark metal mirrors lost from 50% to 80% of the light that entered them.

A hundred years later, the dark silhouette of the Horsehead was discovered on a photographic plate made at the Harvard College Observatory by Williamina Fleming—a woman of unique destiny and one of the brightest personalities in astronomy. Without having a special education, she did a lot in astronomy that immortalized her name. The discovery of the Horsehead is perhaps a curious episode in her scientific biography, rather than something serious. After all, Williamina created the very first system of classifying stellar spectra and personally examined more than 10,000 stars within the framework of this system, creating a method of data processing and manual calculations in astronomy so effective that it worked faster than the first computers (however, she did not live to see them and died quite early—unable to cope with pneumonia).

Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming — pioneering Scottish astronomer

Williamina discovered dozens of new nebulae, but the publication of these discoveries was done by her scientific adviser, William Henry Pickering, who did not even mention his colleague's name. The irony of the situation developed in such a way that John Ludwig Dreyer described the new nebula in his catalog without indicating the initials of the formal discoverer—he indicated only the surname—Pickering, which gave rise to confusion, and the discovery began to be attributed to William Henry's brother—Edward Charles Pickering—also a famous astronomer of the 19th-20th centuries.

Against the backdrop of the Horsehead Nebula, Edward Emerson Barnard managed to shine, including it in his catalog under number 33. But the name of the discoverer, Williamina Fleming, was not listed there either.

If it were not for the enormous resonance that photographs of the nebula began to cause in the press, and the growing interest in the details around this universal (but first of all, cultural) phenomenon, the name of Williamina Fleming would have remained in the shadows. But journalists raced to find new secrets around the nebula, were interested in who exactly discovered this outlandish horse's head in space, and got to the bottom of the truth—the name of the discoverer became known to the World.

It must be said that for astronomers, the resemblance to a horse did not make the nebula more attractive. But for the public far from science, this turned out to be the main trigger for activating attention—just like the illusory face of the Sphinx on Mars or other artifacts that do not need a scientific explanation, the essence of which lies only in a fleeting external resemblance.

Nevertheless, the Horsehead Nebula still looks at us from every book on astronomy, from every scientific or pseudo-scientific website more than a century later. And the culprit for all this is simply a cloud of light-absorbing dark cosmic dust, covering part of the light nebula located slightly behind.

All together—both the light and dark parts of the Horsehead image—constitute a fragment of a massive nebula complex in the constellation Orion, which includes many other nebulae: the Great and Small Orion Nebulae, and the Flame Nebula (which is literally adjacent to the Horsehead). It is believed that the distance to all these nebulae is approximately the same—about 1,200 to 1,500 light years. While distance estimates vary, it is difficult to accurately determine the distance to objects that lack clear boundaries. Nebulae are visible only to the extent that they are illuminated by other stars (as in reflection nebulae, such as the Flame Nebula), or to the extent that the ultraviolet radiation from nearby stars is strong enough to ionize the hydrogen within these nebulae. Only for dark dust nebulae, which have clear outlines (visible against the background of light nebulae), is there some specificity in terms of size and boundaries. However, even these estimates are conditional, as they are based on data from a more distant light nebula, and this data can be quite approximate.

Given all of the above, it remains unclear how much closer the dark silhouette of the Horsehead Nebula is compared to the emission nebula IC 434. The distance difference could range from 30 to 300 light years.

According to various rough estimates, the size of the dark cloud is about 4 light years. However, this refers to the size of the “head” of the nebula, not the entire dust cloud, which extends in various directions beneath the emission nebula IC 434, at distances tens of times greater. (Astronomers still do not know for sure whether this is one large dust cloud, or several that simply overlap each other when observed from Earth.)

In any case, we are dealing with a vast reservoir of material that could form planets and third-generation stars. Several thousand stars could form from the hydrogen clouds in the Orion complex. However, a wide range of chemical elements is necessary to form planets. All of these elements are found in dust nebulae. In the Horsehead Nebula, many heavy chemical elements have been discovered, as well as a significant variety of chemical compounds, including organic ones. In fact, the Universe is synthesizing substances in interstellar space that will later participate in the emergence of life. Ultraviolet radiation, which is destructive to all living things, acts as an effective catalyst for many important chemical reactions that are crucial for the origin of life. The only remaining step is to form planets where the substances already produced by the cosmic environment can give rise to life.

Interestingly, it was in the "neck" area of this cosmic horse that astronomers discovered the active formation of small-mass stars, comparable to our Sun. These stars are now considered the most likely candidates for hosting planetary systems that could support life.

The Horsehead Nebula is extremely popular among astronomy enthusiasts. Taking a photo of this nebula with modern amateur equipment is not difficult—almost every novice astrophotographer tries this as their first target. However, only a few are able to detect the nebula visually—extreme observers who have developed their night vision adaptation to far beyond the average human capacity. The difficulties in such observations are compounded by two closely located bright stars in Orion’s belt: Zeta Orionis (Alnitak) and Sigma Orionis (an extremely interesting multiple star, known since ancient times but curiously not given its own name). These stars can “blind” the observer, preventing them from seeing the faint glow of the emission nebula IC 434 and the dark silhouette of the Horsehead against its background.

Interestingly, in the infrared spectrum—studied by the James Webb Space Telescope—the silhouette of the Horsehead appears bright. This is because interstellar dust, heated to only a few degrees Kelvin, begins to re-radiate the energy received from stars in the form of thermal radiation.

Astronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the iconic Horsehead Nebula in a new infrared light

Stellar winds sweeping through the vast Orion nebula over time modify the shape of the dust nebulae, eventually leading to their complete dissipation (except for the material that will form dense protoplanetary disks). However, it is these stellar winds that create density waves that push dust particles together, ultimately forming rocky planets. Our distant descendants will most likely no longer see the whimsical image of a horse’s head in the sky, but they will undoubtedly find something just as captivating.

The video illustration for this article was created based on astrophotography by American astrophotographer Chuck Ayoub.

A music track from my album «Oort Cloud» was used in the video.

Article Author: Andrey Klimkovsky

[klimkovsky]

Rosette Nebula

The large but sparsely populated constellation Monoceros, barely visible to the naked eye, can take pride in hosting an extraordinary treasure: the Rosette Nebula. Monoceros is a relatively recent addition to the star map. Lacking bright stars, astronomers of the pre-telescope era deemed this region unworthy of a constellation. After all, how could a constellation exist without luminous stars? A few 4th-magnitude stars hardly suffice to form a recognizable figure. Consequently, old star maps depicted nothing within the Winter Triangle — formed by Betelgeuse, Sirius, and Procyon (between the constellations Orion, Canis Major, and Canis Minor. Only with the telescope’s invention did it become clear that this region contained notable objects, necessitating a name. Johannes Hevelius, creator of a stunning star atlas, coined the name in the early 18th century. Thus, astronomers gradually accepted a mythical, horse-like beast with a sharp horn — located where the third eye might be — among the winter constellations.

Through this nearly starless constellation runs the broadest and brightest part of the winter Milky Way. Where the Milky Way flows, fascinating objects abound: open star clusters (plentiful in Monoceros), double and multiple stars, variable stars, and, of course, nebulae. Nebulae become visible only when illuminated by bright, hot stars with intense ultraviolet radiation. The Rosette Nebula owes its visibility to the young, hot open star cluster NGC 2244, nestled within a vast, dense hydrogen cloud. This cluster, also known as the “Satellite Cluster,” likely formed from this cloud about 5 million years ago.

The cluster boasts several Class O giant stars, each with a mass 50–60 times that of the Sun and a luminosity 500,000 times greater — an almost unimaginable power. These stars generate a stellar wind so intense that it ionizes the surrounding hydrogen clouds, causing them to glow and rapidly disperse, heating to 6 million degrees Kelvin. This accounts for the Rosette Nebula’s concentric shape, somewhat resembling a planetary nebula, with similar expansive dynamics. However, its scale and nature differ fundamentally. Planetary nebulae are the shed layers of dying stars, whereas the Rosette is a stellar nursery. Star formation is particularly active where the shockwave of escaping gases meets dormant hydrogen clouds, creating dense regions that collapse under gravity to form new stars. The visible Rosette Nebula is merely a portion of a larger hydrogen cloud, heated by blue giants and stretching along this arm of the Milky Way.

The visible portion of the Rosette Nebula lies 5,000 light-years from Earth, with a diameter of approximately 150 light-years. Dense hydrogen clouds extend far beyond its central region. The glowing material, vividly captured in colorful astrophotographs, has a mass equivalent to about 10,000 Suns, capable of birthing a similar number of stars for our Galaxy.

Despite its beauty and photogenic allure, the Rosette Nebula is challenging to observe visually. Astronomers discovered it piecemeal, with its fragments cataloged separately in the New General Catalogue as NGC 2237, NGC 2238, NGC 2239, and others. No one has likely seen through a telescope this nebula with the vivid details revealed in photographs, including those by amateurs. The nebula’s integrated stellar magnitude is only 9m — relatively faint — and its light is spread across an area of 1.5 x 1 degree, equivalent to six lunar disks. This vast expanse may not fit within a telescope’s field of view. Astrophotographers capture the Rosette by accumulating its light over hours or days, using narrow-band filters to isolate emissions from specific elements. As hydrogen dominates there, the nebula’s natural color is red. However, using filters for oxygen (present in smaller amounts) renders it in turquoise hues.

The astrophotograph inspiring the video illustration for this article was captured by Australian amateur astronomer Dylan O’Donnell, using filters highlighting hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur emissions.

Musical accompaniment

The album «Asteroid Belt»: https://klimkovsky.bandcamp.com/album/asteroid-belt

Original Image:

Rosette Nebula by Dylan O'Donnell

Link to original image: Dylan O’Donnell (@erfmufn) on X

[klimkovsky]

Carina Nebula

The term "Carina Nebula" is sometimes translated as "Nebula of Carina," evoking the image of a beautiful female name. However, this is a misinterpretation. "Carina" is Latin for "keel," referring to the keel of a ship—not just any ship, but the Argo, depicted on ancient star maps. Over time, the Argo constellation was divided into several modern constellations: Carina, Puppis, Vela, and Pyxis (Compass). The stars of the Argo are invisible from mid-northern latitudes. Even in the best seasons (winter and spring), Carina, Puppis, and Vela remain below the horizon. They can be observed from the northern tropics and farther south. However, in ancient times, when Greek astronomers imagined the Argo in the sky, the Earth's rotational axis was positioned differently due to precession. This allowed the Argo to be visible from Mediterranean shores. Precession, a gradual shift in the Earth's axis, completes a full cycle every 26,000 years. Over three millennia, the stars of the Argo gradually disappeared from the northern sky.

Carina is the southernmost constellation in this group. When Renaissance astronomers studied the heavens, they could not observe this remarkable nebula until the Age of Great Geographical Discoveries brought explorers to the Southern Hemisphere. The Carina Nebula was discovered in 1752 by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, a French astronomer, surveyor, and abbot, from the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.

The Carina Nebula is one of the brightest nebulae in the sky, possibly the brightest. Its integrated brightness is equivalent to a first-magnitude star, outshining the Andromeda Galaxy (formerly known as the Andromeda Nebula), the Orion Nebula, and even the Pleiades star cluster. Remarkably, the Carina Nebula lies approximately 8,500 light-years away—six times farther than the Orion Nebula. How does it achieve such brilliance?

The gas within the nebula, primarily hydrogen, does not glow on its own. It is energized by stars born within the nebula from the same gas. The Carina Nebula hosts numerous supermassive, extremely hot stars. Their ultraviolet radiation excites hydrogen atoms, ionizing them by breaking the bond between the proton and electron. In this process, the original photon is absorbed, and two lower-energy photons are emitted, contributing to the nebula's glow. Over time, a free electron and proton in the ionized gas recombine to form a neutral hydrogen atom, releasing another photon. However, ultraviolet radiation from nearby stars soon re-ionizes the atom, perpetuating the cycle. Thus, emission nebulae like Carina glow as long as bright, hot stars illuminate them. The Carina Nebula is particularly radiant due to its abundance of such stars.

Dust nebulae, by contrast, glow differently. They reflect light that reaches them or absorb light if positioned between an observer and a bright emission nebula, appearing as dark filaments against a luminous background. The Carina Nebula contains dust clouds that create its distinctive "relief" and intricate details, which astronomers have categorized into smaller regions: the Keyhole, the Defiant Finger, the Homunculus, and Mystic Mountain, among others. The nebula spans more than 4 square degrees in the sky—equivalent to 25 full Moon disks—and extends over 500 light-years in space. Throughout this vast region, new giant stars are born, and several bright, multi-star open clusters reside within it.

The most remarkable star in this region is Eta Carinae, a hypergiant. In astronomy, the brightest and most massive stars are called supergiants, but for Eta Carinae, even "super" is an understatement. Compared to other supergiants, it is unparalleled, with a mass 150 times that of the Sun and a luminosity 4 million times greater. Previously, astronomers believed such stars could not exist. However, several hypergiants have now been identified. These stars have short lifespans, rapidly burning out and culminating in a supernova. Eta Carinae is nearing the end of its life, with a supernova expected within the next few hundred thousand years.

The Carina Nebula is a favorite subject for astrophotographers, with countless stunning images available online. One of the finest amateur photographs was recently captured by Australian astronomy enthusiast Dylan O'Donnell. The video illustration for this article is based on his astrophotograph, accompanied by my music from the album «Asteroid Belt». While not directly inspired by the nebula, the track complements the visual imagery beautifully.

The album «Asteroid Belt» is here: https://klimkovsky.bandcamp.com/album/asteroid-belt

Carina Nebula by Dylan O'Donnell

Link to original image: Dylan O'Donnell (@erfmufn) on X

[klimkovsky]

Asteroid Pallas

Pallas is the second of the asteroids discovered. The first was Ceres, but a year later Heinrich Olbers, a German physicist and astronomer, a member of the scientific team "Sky Police" (created specifically to search for a new planet between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter), discovered a dim star-shaped object slowly moving among the "fixed" stars. The discovery was made completely by accident - not as a result of searching. On this night - March 28, 1802 - Heinrich Olbers was observing Ceres in order to clarify its orbit, but another asteroid appeared in the same field of view with Ceres, which also moved quite quickly, which attracted the observer's attention.

The new celestial body was named Pallas - one of the many names of the Greek goddess Athena. For many years, Pallas was considered a large planet in the Solar System, and later, when the small celestial bodies found in abundance, orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, were singled out as a separate class - minor planets or asteroids, Pallas was considered the second among them - in size and mass. Now it is the third, having yielded both positions to the slightly larger and more massive Vesta.

The dimensions of Pallas are close to half a kilometer in diameter. The shape is far from a sphere, and in the first approximation can be characterized as an elongated spheroid. Apparently, the mass of the asteroid was not enough for the shape to approach a sphere in a natural way.

On average, Pallas is located 2.7 times further from the Sun than the Earth. The same can be said about Ceres, but the orbit of Pallas is more elongated and strongly inclined to the plane of the ecliptic - almost 35 degrees, which makes this asteroid difficult to access for space stations, because leaving the plane of the ecliptic requires significant fuel consumption or extremely complex maneuvers near other celestial bodies. Therefore, Pallas has not yet been studied from a close distance. At one time, the "Athena" project was developed, but precisely because of the complexity and high cost, it was not implemented. Everything that we know about this asteroid was obtained from ground-based observations or with the help of space telescopes that are near the Earth and do not provide detailed maps of this celestial body.

Music: Andrey Klimkovsky Track: «Pallas» Album: «Asteroid belt» link: https://klimkovsky.bandcamp.com/album/asteroid-belt

[klimkovsky]

Asteroid Ceres

Asteroid Ceres is the very first of the discovered asteroids. Now it is classified as a dwarf planet (belongs to the same class of celestial bodies as Pluto), but at the time of its discovery (in 1801) scientists had nothing but the term "planet" to somehow describe this new celestial matter for science. For quite a long time, Ceres was considered a planet - like Earth, Mars, Jupiter. Yes - it was quite dim, and was visible only through a telescope. But the previously discovered Uranus is also not very bright - it is also visible almost exclusively through optics.

It is interesting that Ceres is only slightly dimmer in brightness than Uranus, and in the best periods of its visibility can be seen with the naked eye - on a moonless night somewhere high in the mountains.

Ceres was discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi, director of the Palermo Observatory, literally on New Year's Eve - January 1, and he did it completely by accident. Several astronomers, having united into a special scientific group, had been searching for an unknown planet between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter for some time. But the glory of the discoverer did not go to them. Although soon discoveries of objects similar to Ceres followed one after another, and new celestial bodies were discovered, including by members of this so-called "Heavenly Police". William Herschel proposed the term "asteroid" for many discovered luminaries, which took root in science via some time. But for several decades Ceres was considered a major planet of the Solar System.

It is really quite large. Its diameter is close to a thousand kilometers, and there is nothing larger in the asteroid belt. Its shape is almost spherical, and by mass Ceres contains about 1/3 of all the asteroid matter in the Main Belt.

Previously, it was assumed that it was just a rock-body, but it turned out that a significant proportion of Ceres' mass is water - frozen, and maybe even liquid (if the hypothesis about Ceres' deep subsurface ocean is confirmed). This makes Ceres related to the large satellites of Jupiter, Saturn and other giant planets.

Ceres is one of the few objects in the asteroid belt that space stations have flown to. In 2015 and 2016, this dwarf planet was explored by the NASA Dawn station, which was in orbit around Ceres for more than a year. Thanks to this, we now know what this small, but very important World for us looks like.

In the foreseeable future, Humanity will begin to explore Ceres and create one of its settlements there.

Music: Andrey Klimkovsky Track: «Ceres» Album: «Asteroid belt» link: https://klimkovsky.bandcamp.com/album/asteroid-belt

[klimkovsky]

Asteroid 2024 YR4: The Last Cosmic Warning?

As of today, February 27, 2025, here’s what’s known about Asteroid 2024 YR4 based on the latest updates:

Asteroid 2024 YR4 is a Near-Earth Object (NEO) of the Apollo type, meaning its orbit crosses Earth’s path around the Sun. It was discovered on December 27, 2024, by the ATLAS telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, just two days after it made a close approach to Earth on December 25, 2024, passing about 828,800 kilometers away—roughly 2.15 times the distance to the Moon. This asteroid caught attention because initial calculations suggested a small but notable chance of it impacting Earth in the future.

Its size is estimated to be between 40 and 90 meters (130 to 300 feet) in diameter, with NASA refining this to around 55 meters (180 feet) based on an assumed reflectivity (albedo) of 0.154. That’s roughly comparable to the asteroid responsible for the 1908 Tunguska event, which flattened a vast area of Siberian forest. It’s not a "planet-killer" by any stretch—those are typically kilometers wide—but it’s large enough to cause significant regional damage, potentially wiping out a city if it hits land. If it hits the ocean, it could cause a gigantic tsunami, the consequences of which could be more significant, since the affected area would be extended coastal areas.

The asteroid’s composition is thought to be stony, likely an S-type (the most common among NEOs), though it could also be an L-type or K-type based on preliminary spectral analysis from telescopes like the Gran Telescopio Canarias and Lowell Discovery Telescope. It spins pretty fast, with a rotation period of about 19.5 minutes, and its brightness varies as it rotates, suggesting an elongated shape—possibly 1.4 times longer than it is wide.

As for its orbit, 2024 YR4 takes about 4 years to circle the Sun, with an inclination of 3.41 degrees relative to Earth’s orbit (almost in the plane of the ecliptic). It came closest to the Sun (perihelion) on November 22, 2024, before swinging by Earth. Its next close approach is expected on December 17, 2028, at a safer distance of around 8 million kilometers. However, the big focus has been on December 22, 2032, when early estimates gave it a chance of hitting Earth.

Speaking of that impact risk, it’s been a rollercoaster. When first assessed in late January 2025, the odds were around 1-2%. By mid-February, they peaked at 3.1% (a 1-in-32 chance, and this is the highest probability estimate of a collision for bodies of similar size and mass in history), earning it a Torino Scale rating of 3—meaning it warranted serious attention. But as more observations rolled in, particularly from February 19-20, the risk dropped sharply. NASA’s latest update, based on data up to February 26, 2025, pegs the impact probability for 2032 at just 0.0011% (1-in-91,000), effectively reducing its Torino rating to 0. This means it’s no longer considered a significant threat, though there’s still a slim 1.7% chance it could hit the Moon instead.

Why the change?

More telescope data—hundreds of observations from places like the Very Large Telescope in Chile and the Magdalena Ridge Observatory in New Mexico—helped shrink the uncertainty in its trajectory. By April 2025, it’ll be too far and faint for ground-based telescopes to track, disappearing from view until mid-2028. The James Webb Space Telescope is slated to study it in March-May 2025, which could nail down its size and properties even better.

If it did hit Earth (super unlikely now), it’d likely strike at 38,000 mph (17 km/sec), releasing about 8 megatons of energy—over 500 times the Hiroshima bomb’s yield. The “risk corridor” spans the eastern Pacific, northern South America, the Atlantic, Africa, the Arabian Sea, and South Asia. But given the odds, scientists are more excited about studying it than worrying. It’s been a great test for planetary defense systems, like NASA’s Sentry and the ESA’s monitoring efforts, showing how we can refine predictions over time.

[klimkovsky]

¿Por qué los humanos deberían colonizar Marte?

Entre las personas que viven en la Tierra hay quienes desearían volar lejos de nuestro planeta, para trasladarse a algún lugar, por ejemplo, a Marte. Son pocos, pero entre ellos hay algunos muy activos. El mismo Elon Musk – empresario, visionario, inventor – está desarrollando rápidamente un programa para transformar a la Humanidad en una especie multiplanetaria. La colonización de Marte es el principal paso estratégico de este programa. Sin embargo, otros habitantes de la Tierra se muestran cautelosos ante esta idea. ¿Por qué explorar un planeta inhabitable, sin atmósfera ni campo magnético que lo proteja de la radiación? ¿Qué sentido tiene vivir bajo tierra y llevar un traje espacial toda la vida?

Comencemos con el hecho de que si de repente las cosas empeoran en la Tierra que en Marte (y podemos hacer esto por nosotros mismos), entonces Marte es un sitio de respaldo completamente adecuado en el que podemos comenzar todo desde el principio.

Algunas personas están bastante dispuestas a vivir bajo tierra y en condiciones de poca luz si tiene sentido. Por ejemplo, una colonia humana en otro planeta tiene un fuerte significado. Tomemos como ejemplo las bases científicas en la Antártida: allí no es mucho mejor, pero hay gente que trabaja allí durante años en nombre del significado.

El significado no tiene por qué estar necesariamente justificado en la práctica o ser simplemente comprensible para otras categorías de personas. La mayoría de los significados no están vinculados a beneficios prácticos, comodidad o incluso cuestiones de supervivencia. Más bien, contradicen estas directrices básicas. De tales significados podemos decir que son significados muy fuertes, ya que no requieren una justificación lógica; tienen éxito sin ella. Recordemos que desde hace casi un siglo todos estamos amenazados por una guerra nuclear: se ha acumulado una enorme cantidad de munición capaz de destruir la civilización. ¿Y con qué propósito? Por el hecho de que existen significados muy extrañas (comunismo, capitalismo, religión y otros ideas inverosímiles), ninguna de ellas tiene que ver con una buena vida. Ninguno de los movimientos políticos o religiosos le dio a la gente lo que prometieron. Y no poder dar. Porque no lo tiene por si mismo. Y no hay ningún lugar físico donde conseguir esas “montañas de oro” – sobre la prosperidad universal bajo el comunismo, o en el paraíso, o en una economía de mercado. Sin embargo, la gente sigue estas significados en grandes multitudes, y por causa de estas ideas la gente se mata entre sí.

Pero sin estas significados, las personas se convierten en animales bien alimentados a quienes no les importa nada. No hay propósito, no hay aspiraciones, no hay sentido para continuar la vida, excepto comer y reproducirse.

Hasta cierto punto, el proyecto de colonización de Marte es un intento de encontrar y desarrollar un significado muy ecológico, de llevar el exceso de energía de la Humanidad más allá del planeta: los particularmente violentos lo llevarán consigo. Y aquí todo se calmará un poco más, por el momento, hasta que se acumule una nueva masa crítica.

Existe una teoría que sostiene que una civilización comienza a expandirse espacialmente y se realiza en ella, o cuando ha dominado completamente los recursos de su propio planeta, sus ecosistemas comienzan a desvanecerse, a degradarse y la civilización pronto desaparece. Estamos al borde de esto: o reducimos la tasa de reproducción y de alguna manera sobreviviremos unos cientos de años más, ahorrando recursos y dejando alguna parte de la naturaleza salvaje intacta. Pero esto no es una solución, porque sin crecimiento poblacional comienza la degeneración genética. O bien vamos al espacio -el más incómodo e inadecuado-, a la Luna, a Marte, a los asteroides y a los satélites de Júpiter, a estaciones orbitales espaciales autosuficientes. Aprendemos a tomar recursos del Universo y gracias a ello sobrevivimos e incluso nos convertimos en una civilización interplanetaria.

Y entre una y otra versión de nuestro desarrollo no hay nada.

Pero la buena noticia es que Marte en sí no es malo en absoluto. Ya existen varios proyectos bastante realistas para restaurar la ecología marciana: bombear la atmósfera, crear un campo magnético artificial. Estos no son cuentos de hadas de escritores de ciencia ficción: son conceptos completamente realizables, científicos, calculados, desarrollados en gran parte en dibujos y algunos de ellos ya en práctica: en hardware.

Sí, es increíblemente caro. Pero no más caro que la locura nuclear y todo lo demás (podemos recordar el proyecto de pandemia 20-20: si alguien todavía no lo ha entendido, esto también es una herramienta para limitar nuestra actividad dentro del planeta Tierra).

Pero el movimiento hacia la exploración espacial en sí mismo abre las puertas a algo que todavía ni siquiera podemos imaginar. Sólo hay que empezar y se abrirán perspectivas que ahora están simplemente más allá del horizonte de nuestra atención y comprensión: no las vemos porque no tienen ningún significado. Pero una vez que se forma el significado, aparecerán muchas cosas inesperadas en el campo de visión. Así que tiene todo el sentido avanzar en esa dirección. Y quién volará a Marte o realizará otro trabajo espacial en la Tierra es una cuestión de elección personal. Es poco probable que en los próximos cien años la gente sea reubicada por la fuerza en Marte. Lo más probable es que haya más gente dispuesta a venir de la que la colonia marciana podrá albergar en un principio. Y se formará una larga fila de personas que desean comenzar una vida completamente diferente.

[klimkovsky]

Why Humans should colonize Mars

Among the people living on Earth, there are those who would like to fly away from our planet - to move somewhere, for example, to Mars. There are few of them, but among them there are very active ones. The same Elon Musk - businessman, visionary, inventor - is rapidly developing a program to turn Humanity into a multi-planet species. Colonization of Mars is the main strategic stage of this program. However, other inhabitants of the Earth are wary of this idea. Why develop a planet unsuitable for life - without an atmosphere and a magnetic field that protects from radiation? What is the point of living underground and walking around in a spacesuit all your life?

Let's start with the fact that if things suddenly get worse on Earth than on Mars (and we can arrange this for ourselves), then Mars is a perfectly suitable backup site where we can start all over again.

Some people are quite willing to live their lives underground and in poor lighting conditions if there is some meaning in it. For example, a human colony on another planet is a strong meaning. Take, for example, scientific bases in Antarctica - it is not much better there, but there are people who work there for years - in the name of meaning.

Meaning does not necessarily have to be practically justified, or even simply understandable to other categories of people. Most meanings are not tied to practical benefits, comfort, or even to issues of survival. Rather, they even contradict these basic guidelines. We can say about such meanings that these are very strong meanings, since they do not require logical justification - they are successful without it. Let's remember that for almost a century now we have all been threatened by nuclear war - a huge amount of ammunition has been accumulated that is capable of destroying civilization. And for what? For the sake of very strange meanings - communism, capitalism, religious and other far-fetched ideas - none of them are about a good life. Not a single political or religious movement has given people what it promised. And is not capable of giving it. Because it itself does not have it. And there is nowhere physically to take these "golden mountains" - about universal prosperity under communism, or - in paradise, or - in a market economy. Nevertheless, people follow these ideas in dense crowds, and for the sake of these ideas people kill each other.

But without these ideas, people turn into a well-fed animal that doesn't care about anything. There is no goal, no aspirations, no meaning to continue life, except for what to eat and reproduce.

To some extent, the Mars colonization project is an attempt to find and develop a very ecological meaning, to take the excess energy of Humanity beyond the planet - the especially violent ones will take it with them. And here it will become a little calmer - for the time being, until a new critical mass accumulates.

There is a theory that a civilization either begins space expansion and realizes itself in this, or by the time the resources of its own planet are fully developed, its ecosystems begin to fade, degrade, and the civilization soon disappears. We are on the verge of this - either we reduce the rate of self-reproduction, and somehow we will last for several hundred years - by saving and leaving some part of the wild nature untouched. But this is not a way out, because without population growth, genetic degeneration begins. Or we go into space - the most uncomfortable and unsuitable - to the Moon, to Mars, to asteroids and Jupiter's satellites, to self-sufficient space orbital stations. We learn to take resources from the Universe and thanks to this we survive and even become an interplanetary civilization.

And there is nothing between one and the other options for our development.

But the good news is that Mars itself is not bad at all. There are already several quite realistic projects for restoring the Martian ecology - pumping the atmosphere, creating an artificial magnetic field. These are not fairy tales of science fiction writers - these are quite feasible concepts - scientific, calculated, largely developed in drawings, and some are already in practice - in hardware.

Yes - it is insanely expensive. But not more expensive than nuclear madness and everything else (you can recall the 20-20 pandemic project - if someone still hasn't understood, then this is also a tool for limiting our activity within the planet Earth).

But the movement towards space exploration itself opens doors to something we cannot even imagine yet. We just need to start, and such prospects will open up that are now simply beyond the horizon of our attention and understanding - we do not see them, because there was no sense in them. But as soon as the sense is formed, a lot of unexpected things will appear in the field of vision. So, it is quite reasonable to move in this direction. And who will fly to Mars or will do other space affairs on Earth - this is a matter of personal choice. It is unlikely that in the next hundred years, people will be forced to move to Mars. Rather, there will be more people willing than the Martian colony will be able to accept at first. And a long line will form - of those people who would like to start a completely another life.

[klimkovsky]

Starship Flight Test 8

Starship Flight Test 8 set to Launch from Starbase, Texas

SpaceX is gearing up for the eighth flight test of its Starship launch vehicle, scheduled to lift off from the Starbase facility in South Texas on Friday, February 28, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. Central Standard Time (22:00 Universal Time Coordinated). This latest test marks another bold step in the company’s mission to refine the world’s most powerful rocket for future crewed missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

The Flight Test 8 mission will see Ship 34 paired with Booster 15, launching from Starbase’s Orbital Launch Pad A. The key objectives include deploying four Starlink simulators — mock satellites designed to test payload delivery capabilities — into space, alongside critical hardware tests for reentry and landing.

SpaceX will also evaluate new flap designs and other upgrades aimed at improving the vehicle’s performance. A standout goal is the attempted catch of the Super Heavy booster by the launch tower’s mechanical “chopstick” arms, a maneuver designed to prove the system’s reusability. This follows the dramatic mid-flight explosion of Ship 33 during Flight 7, prompting rigorous refinements for this redux.

The flight trajectory will take Starship on a suborbital path, launching eastward over the Gulf of Mexico. After booster separation, the Super Heavy will execute a boostback burn, aiming to return and land at Starbase. Meanwhile, Ship 34 will arc across the globe, targeting a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean roughly an hour after liftoff, northwest of Australia.

— “We’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible,” — said a SpaceX spokesperson. — “This test is about nailing the details—payload deployment, reentry precision, and booster recovery — so we can keep moving toward a fully reusable future.”

Weather permitting, the launch window opens at 4:00 p.m. CST, with a live webcast available on SpaceX’s website and X starting 35 minutes prior. Stay tuned for updates as Starbase hums with anticipation for this next chapter in space exploration.

Text by Grok: https://x.com/i/grok/share/tsn5afZnYZG4XY322xTZEWano Photos by SpaceX: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/ Edition and Music by Andrey Klimkovsky https://klimkovsky.ru/ Track: «I was born not on the Earth» Bandcamp: https://klimkovsky.bandcamp.com/album/i-was-born-not-on-the-earth NEANE Records: https://neane.ru/rus/4/katalog/0103.htm

[klimkovsky]

Globular star cluster Messier 9

Globular star cluster Messier 9 by Hubble Space Telescope

Messier 9, or M9, is a fascinating globular star cluster located in the constellation Ophiuchus. Discovered by Charles Messier in 1764, it’s one of the older clusters in our galaxy, estimated to be around 12 billion years old. It sits about 25,800 light-years away from Earth and is relatively close to the galactic center—only about 5,500 light-years from it, which is pretty tight-knit compared to many other globulars.

M9 contains a couple hundred thousand stars packed into a roughly spherical region about 90 light-years across. It’s not the brightest or most prominent cluster—magnitude-wise, it’s around 7.7, so you’d need a small telescope or decent binoculars to spot it under good conditions. What’s cool about it is its mix of stars: mostly old, low-mass ones, with a good dose of metal-poor stars (meaning they’re low in elements heavier than helium), which ties into its ancient origins.

It’s also got some variable stars—like RR Lyrae types—that astronomers use to gauge distances and study stellar evolution. The cluster’s been shaped by its proximity to the galactic core, too; tidal forces have likely stripped away some of its outer stars over billions of years, giving it a slightly squashed look.

Let’s dive into the history and structure of Messier 9 (M9)

History

Messier 9 was first cataloged by Charles Messier on May 19, 1764. Messier, a French astronomer obsessed with hunting comets, spotted it while charting objects that could be mistaken for them. He described it as a "nebula without stars," which makes sense—through his modest 18th-century telescope, M9 would’ve looked like a faint, fuzzy blob. It wasn’t until later, with better instruments, that astronomers like William Herschel resolved it into a dense cluster of stars in the 1780s. Herschel’s observations helped shift the understanding of these "nebulae" into what we now know as globular clusters.

M9’s historical significance grew as astronomers pieced together its age and context. By the 20th century, studies of its stellar population—especially its metal-poor stars—pegged it as one of the Milky Way’s ancient relics, formed roughly 12 billion years ago. That’s not long after the Big Bang itself, making M9 a window into the early galaxy. Its proximity to the galactic center also hints at a turbulent past, shaped by gravitational tussles with the Milky Way’s core over eons.

Structure

M9 is a classic globular cluster: a tight, roughly spherical ball of stars held together by gravity. It spans about 90 light-years in diameter, though its core is much denser—most of its estimated 200,000+ stars are crammed into the inner regions. The cluster’s classified as a Shapley-Sawyer Concentration Class VIII, which means it’s not the most densely packed (Class I is the tightest), but it’s still got a noticeable core concentration that loosens up toward the edges.

Its structure’s been sculpted by its environment. Being just 5,500 light-years from the galactic center—closer than most globulars—M9 feels the Milky Way’s tidal forces strongly. These forces stretch and distort it slightly, stripping away some outer stars over time. This gives it a less perfectly spherical shape than more isolated clusters, with a bit of flattening or elongation detectable in detailed observations.

The stellar makeup is telling, too. M9 is dominated by old, low-mass stars—red giants and main-sequence stars nearing the end of their lives. Its metallicity (the fraction of elements heavier than helium) is low, around 1/50th that of the Sun’s, confirming its early formation before the galaxy had much heavy-element recycling. You’ll also find variable stars like RR Lyrae types pulsing in its core, which are handy for measuring its distance (around 25,800 light-years from us) and studying its dynamics. No fancy young star-forming regions here—just a quiet, ancient assembly.

The cluster’s compactness and its tidal wear-and-tear make it a great case study for how globulars evolve near the galactic core.

Let’s connect Messier 9’s history to the Milky Way’s formation and then zoom into its core dynamics

History and the Milky Way’s Formation

M9’s ancient age—around 12 billion years—places it among the first generation of globular clusters formed in the Milky Way. Back then, the galaxy was a chaotic mess of gas, dust, and smaller proto-galaxies merging into what we know today. Globular clusters like M9 are thought to have condensed out of massive gas clouds during this early epoch, before the galactic disk fully took shape. Its low metallicity—elements heavier than helium are scarce at about 1/50th the Sun’s level—backs this up. The universe hadn’t had time to churn out much “metal” through stellar fusion and supernovae yet, so M9’s stars are made of nearly pristine primordial stuff: mostly hydrogen and helium.

Being just 5,500 light-years from the galactic center suggests M9 formed in the galaxy’s inner halo or bulge region, where star formation kicked off early and fast. Some theories propose that clusters like M9 could even be remnants of dwarf galaxies or smaller stellar systems that got swallowed up by the growing Milky Way. Over billions of years, as the galaxy settled into its spiral structure, M9’s orbit kept it close to the core, exposing it to intense gravitational forces. These interactions likely stripped away some of its mass—stars on the outskirts got peeled off into the galactic halo—linking its history directly to the Milky Way’s violent assembly. It’s like a fossil record of the galaxy’s youth, preserved despite the chaos around it.

Core Dynamics

Now, zooming into M9’s core—it’s where the action (or what passes for action in a 12-billion-year-old cluster) happens. The core is dense, with stars packed so tightly that their mutual gravity drives some wild dynamics. M9’s a Class VIII globular, so its core isn’t as insanely concentrated as a Class I cluster (like M15), but it’s still compact enough for stellar interactions to shape its evolution. The inner region’s probably only a few light-years across, stuffed with thousands of stars buzzing around at high speeds—tens to hundreds of kilometers per second.

This density leads to stellar collisions and close encounters, though actual smash-ups are rare because stars are small compared to the space between them. More common are gravitational “slingshots” that fling lower-mass stars outward, leaving heavier ones—like white dwarfs or neutron stars—to sink toward the center via a process called mass segregation. Over time, this concentrates the core even more. M9’s core might even harbor a few exotic remnants—maybe a low-mass black hole or binary systems of compact objects—though nothing’s confirmed yet.

The variable stars, like RR Lyrae types, are a big deal here. They pulse with regular brightness changes, driven by internal instabilities, and their presence in the core helps map its structure. These stars also hint at dynamical heating: as stars interact gravitationally, energy gets redistributed, puffing up the core slightly against total collapse. Meanwhile, the tidal pull from the galactic center keeps tugging at the cluster, counteracting some of that inward squeeze and giving M9’s core a delicate balance between contraction and disruption.

So, M9’s history ties it to the Milky Way’s formative brawls, while its core is a slow-motion dance of gravity and survival.

Grok AI

Constellation Ophiuchus

Globular star cluster Messier 9 (M9) on the star map in Constellation Ophiuchus

A small addition to what AI said

The globular star cluster M9 is observed through the most densely populated regions of the Milky Way, rich in both stars and hydrogen nebulae, as well as interstellar dust, which partially hides this cluster from us. The absorption of light by the cluster and the filaments of dust nebulae against its background were noticed by Lord Rosse in the 19th century. The not quite round observed shape of the cluster is also due to dust screening.

In addition, the cluster is moving away from the Solar System at a very high speed - more than 200 kilometers per second. From this we can conclude that the globular star cluster M9 is not constantly near the galactic center, but only for a short time - its orbit is most likely highly elongated, and for most of its galactic year the cluster is on the periphery of the Galaxy or at an average distance from the core, possibly (and most likely) in the galactic halo, and not in the plane of the spiral arms. But now it is passing through the galactic plane and actively losing stars (but who knows - maybe it is acquiring new ones to replace the lost ones, capturing them on its way... although the mechanism of such capture has not yet been studied by science and is only assumed). But the approach to the core of the Galaxy, of course, greatly weakens the gravitational bonds between the stars of the cluster, which leads to large losses in the number of stars every couple of hundred million years, when the cluster again returns to the central part of the Galaxy.

Astronomers observe the globular star cluster Messier 9. Vision by Grok AI

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Warped Spiral Galaxy ESO 510-13

Warped Spiral Galaxy ESO 510–13 by Hubble Space Telescope

This galaxy is a fascinating object, located about 150 million light-years away in the southern constellation Hydra. It’s a spiral galaxy, but unlike the typical flat, orderly disks we often picture when we think of spirals — like the Milky Way or Andromeda — ESO 510-13 has a strikingly warped structure. Its disk, which spans roughly 100,000 light-years across, is bent and twisted, giving it a unique, almost contorted appearance when viewed edge-on.

The warping is most noticeable in its equatorial dust plane, a dark band of interstellar dust and gas that cuts across the galaxy. This dust lane is silhouetted against the bright central bulge — a dense, smooth region packed with older stars — which makes the distortion stand out even more. The galaxy’s disk isn’t just a static, solid plate; it’s a dynamic collection of billions of stars, gas, and dust, all orbiting the galactic center under the influence of gravity. Normally, these disks flatten out over time due to the sticky collisions of gas clouds during a galaxy’s formation, but ESO 510-13’s shape suggests something disrupted that process.

Astronomers think the most likely culprit for this warp is a gravitational interaction with another galaxy. It could have been a close encounter — or even a collision — with a nearby galaxy that tugged on ESO 510-13’s disk, pulling it out of shape. Some speculate this might have involved a merger with a smaller, gas-rich dwarf galaxy, with the dust lane still settling into a more stable, flat configuration. The idea is supported by the fact that warped disks aren’t entirely rare — our own Milky Way has a subtle warp, though nothing as dramatic as this. In ESO 510-13’s case, the distortion is so pronounced that it’s been captured in stunning detail by the Hubble Space Telescope, which imaged it in 2001 using its Wide Field Planetary Camera 2.

What’s also intriguing is the evidence of ongoing activity in the warped regions. In the outer parts of the disk, especially on one side, you can see bright patches of blue stars — hot, young ones that have recently formed. This suggests that the gravitational upheaval might have compressed gas clouds, triggering new star formation. It’s a vivid reminder that galaxies aren’t static; they’re shaped by chaotic, messy interactions over cosmic timescales.

There’s still plenty we don’t fully understand, though. The exact cause of the warp — whether it was a single dramatic event or a series of interactions — isn’t pinned down. The dynamics of how these warped disks evolve, rebound, and eventually flatten out are also still being studied. ESO 510-13 is like a snapshot of a galaxy caught mid-transformation, offering a glimpse into the forces that sculpt the universe’s grand spirals.

Grok AI

Constellation Hydra

Additional information from Human

To say that some object - for example, a galaxy, nebula or star cluster - is located in the constellation Hydra means to say almost nothing. Not everyone knows this, but Hydra is the largest constellation. And it is not so much large as long. It begins from the constellations of the winter sky, bordering on Canis Minor and Monoceros. And Hydra ends at the junction of the spring and summer constellations, touching the borders of Libra and Virgo, its tail just short of reaching the Claws of Scorpio. The head of Hydra, located north of the celestial equator, is clearly visible in winter and early spring. And the tail of Hydra, plunging deep into the southern celestial hemisphere, is visible in late spring and early summer. Hydra seems to connect the winter and summer groups of constellations. But it is quite difficult to see it in its entirety in the sky. Because when the head of Hydra is visible, the tail is still below the horizon. But when the tail of Hydra rises, its head leaves the visible part of the sky.

So, the galaxy ESO 510-13 is located in the tail of Hydra - literally on the border with the constellation Centaurus. Its declination is -30 degrees. It is inconvenient to observe the galaxy ESO 510-13 from the northern hemisphere of the Earth, especially given its low brightness, which is weaker than the 13th magnitude. It is not surprising that there is only one decent picture of this star city on the Internet - taken by the Hubble telescope - and who else could show this galaxy in detail? Pictures from most other telescopes are not very impressive.

It may seem that this galaxy is not very large, since its images are so nondescript (even the Hubble picture does not create the feeling of something very large). But the thing is that the galaxy ESO 510-13 is quite far from us. It is not at the edge of the Universe, but it is not in our immediate intergalactic environment either. The distance to it is 150 million light years. You can compare how far it is: The Andromeda Galaxy is 2.5 million light years away. The Sombrero Galaxy (which is also visible edge-on) is 30 million light years away. And this curved universal "propeller" is 150 million light years away. This is a lot - even for Hubble. But nevertheless, the space telescope has revealed many details that arouse interest in this galaxy more and more.

The size of the galaxy ESO 510-13 corresponds to the size of the Milky Way - it is in many ways similar to our Galaxy. It has the same diameter - 100 thousand light years. It is also spiral (although we don't know - it has a bridge from the core to the spiral arms - this is not visible when viewed from the edge). And what is most important for us - our Milky Way Galaxy also has a significant curvature of the spiral arms. Usually astronomers carefully say that the deformation of the galactic disk of the Milky Way is small. But how did we know this? Only by indirect signs - when studying its shape from the inside. And from the inside, you can see little.

How much can you say about the shape of your house, being inside it, and never going outside? Or - being on the surface of the Earth, is it easy to verify its sphericity? It's not that easy. That is why many people still cannot accept the sphericity of the Earth's shape as truth. It is approximately the same with the shape of the galaxy. Being inside it, it is very difficult to understand how it looks from the outside. But, fortunately, we have the opportunity to see other galaxies from the outside, and draw some conclusions, understand the reasons and correlation of what is happening there with what is happening with our Galaxy.

Our galaxy is constantly absorbing other galaxies - those that are smaller. That is why it has grown to such gigantic sizes - 100 thousand light years - this is a very large galaxy. But each absorption necessarily deforms the Milky Way. And the next deformation begins long before the absorption or merger. For example, dwarf galaxies located near the Milky Way - the Magellanic Clouds - are already noticeably influencing the shape of the spiral arms of our star city, pulling them in their direction.

It is also interesting that after the merger, the deformation does not disappear by itself. It may happen that it will acquire a stable character, catching a resonance wave, when the bend will start to swing first to one side of the galactic equator, then to the other, as if falling under the galactic plane, and soaring from under it on the second half of the turn of the galactic orbit. Incidentally, this is exactly how the Sun moves around the center of our Galaxy - its galactic orbit does not lie exactly in the plane of the galactic disk, but makes sinusoidal oscillations - dives through the plane of the spiral arms. The passage of the Sun and the Solar System through densely populated regions of the Milky Way correlates with some processes in the Earth's biosphere, such as mass extinctions and evolutionary bursts in the appearance of new species. And this, too, may have a cause associated with galactic mergers in the history of the Milky Way.

It is quite possible that the galaxy ESO 510-13 in the tail of the constellation Hydra is literally showing us our history, only from a very large distance - both in space and in time.

Warped Spiral Galaxy ESO 510-13 in the SIMBAD Astronomical Database

[klimkovsky]

The Raspberry Nebula (SH2-263) in Orion

The Raspberry Nebula (SH2-263) in Orion, is drawn by the Grock AI

The Raspberry Nebula, designated as SH2-263, is a fascinating celestial object located in the constellation Orion, near the bright star Bellatrix, which marks Orion's shoulder. This nebula is notable for being a complex of both emission and reflection nebulosity, which gives it a distinctive appearance:

Emission Nebula: SH2-263 is primarily an emission nebula, appearing red due to the hydrogen gas being ionized by the ultraviolet light from nearby stars, particularly the hot, luminous star HD 34989. This star, with a magnitude of about 5.78, is responsible for illuminating much of the nebula's gas, causing it to glow.

Reflection Nebula: Adjacent to SH2-263, the reflection nebula VdB 38 adds a blue hue to the scene. This occurs because the dust in VdB 38 scatters the light from HD 34989, reflecting it towards us and giving off a blue color due to the nature of light scattering.

Location and Observation: Positioned in the northern part of Orion, the Raspberry Nebula can be observed in winter from the northern hemisphere when Orion is high in the sky. It lies about 2.2 degrees north-northwest of Bellatrix. The nebula's apparent size is around 15 arcminutes, which corresponds to roughly 10 light-years in physical extent.

Additional Features: The nebula complex includes dark nebulae like LDN 1588, which appear as dark patches due to their dust blocking light from stars behind them. The region also shows faint nebulosity and is part of a larger area filled with various nebulae, including the Lambda Orionis Ring (Sh2-264).

Photography: Due to its faintness and the complexity of its structure, capturing the Raspberry Nebula in detail requires long exposure times, often with narrowband filters like Hydrogen-alpha to enhance the emission parts. It's less frequently imaged compared to more famous Orion nebulae like M42 but offers a unique challenge for astrophotographers with its mix of emission and reflection nebulosity.

The Raspberry Nebula, with its intricate interplay of colors and structures, provides a beautiful subject for anyone interested in the deeper exploration of the night sky's more subtle wonders.

Grok AI

Constellation Orion

Additional information from human

In the wide-angle panoramic images of the Orion constellation, it is clear that it is all immersed in a giant foggy complex, in which the famous Orion Nebula occupies a central, but not very large place. And there is also Barnard's Loop, the Horsehead Nebula and many other gas and dust formations. It may seem that the Raspberry Nebula is also part of the Orion Nebula complex. This is true, but only partially. The fact is that the Raspberry Nebula is one and a half times further from us than the famous M-42. The distance from the Great Orion Nebula and the stars born in it (of which the Orion constellation is composed) is from 1000 to 1300 light years. But the Raspberry Nebula is 1,700 light years away from us and is illuminated by only one star, HD 34989, which is barely visible to the eye on a moonless night in the mountains (its magnitude is 5.8). Our Raspberry Nebula shines in the light of this single star. Without it, we would not have seen this nebula. And only thanks to this star were we able to determine the distance to the nebula. I will also add that this is a fairly young star — several million years old. It is very hot and the temperature of the photosphere (the visible surface of the star) is 25,000 degrees. The mass of the star is also quite impressive — 12 times greater than the solar mass. Apparently, this is a reliable candidate for a supernova outbreak in the distant future. And when this happens, the nebula illuminated by the star HD 34989 will be additionally enriched with heavy chemical elements. Now it mainly consists of hydrogen, and therefore has a predominantly reddish tint. And the part of it that has a blue tint is represented by carbon, oxygen, lithium. Over time, the color range of Raspberry Nebula will become more diverse.

It is interesting that the radial velocity of the star HD 34989 correlates well with the radial velocities of most bright stars in the constellation Orion. We can make a cautious conclusion that this star is a relative of those luminaries that were born in the Orion Nebula, it just managed to fly away further. And now it illuminates completely different foggy interstellar spaces.

Visualization based on real astrophotography of Raspberry Nebula by astrophotographer Elmiko

The Raspberry Nebula (SH2-263) in Orion by Elmiko on Astrobin

[klimkovsky]

The Lagoon Nebula, also known as Messier 8, M8 or NGC 6523 (Emission nebula)

The Lagoon Nebula, also known as Messier 8, M8 or NGC 6523 (Emission nebula), is drawn by the Grock AI

Messier 8, commonly known as the Lagoon Nebula, is a stunning emission nebula located in the constellation Sagittarius. Here's a concise overview:

Overview

Designation: Messier 8 (M8), also cataloged as NGC 6523 (the nebula itself) and NGC 6530 (the associated open star cluster).

Type: Emission nebula with an embedded open star cluster.

Location: Approximately 4,000–6,000 light-years from Earth in the Sagittarius arm of the Milky Way.

Size: Spans about 110 by 50 light-years, with an apparent size of roughly 90 by 40 arcminutes in the sky (about three times the size of the full Moon).

Magnitude: Approximately 6.0, making it visible to the naked eye under dark skies, though binoculars or a telescope enhance the view.

Characteristics

Appearance: The Lagoon Nebula is named for its wide, lagoon-like dust lane that divides it, visible in photographs and through telescopes. It glows with a reddish hue due to ionized hydrogen (H II regions), energized by the intense radiation from young, hot stars within it.

Star Formation: M8 is a stellar nursery, actively forming new stars. The open cluster NGC 6530, embedded within the nebula, contains numerous young, hot stars, including O-type stars, which illuminate and ionize the surrounding gas.

Notable Features:The "Hourglass Nebula," a smaller, bright region within M8, is a site of intense star formation.Several Bok globules—dark, dense clouds of gas and dust—are visible, some of which may collapse to form new stars.

Observation

Best Time to Observe: Summer months (June to August) in the Northern Hemisphere, when Sagittarius is prominent in the night sky.

Location in Sky: Near the bright star Lambda Sagittarii and the Teapot asterism in Sagittarius.

Equipment: Visible with the naked eye in dark skies, but binoculars or a small telescope reveal more detail, including the cluster and nebulosity. Long-exposure photography highlights its vivid colors and intricate structure.

Scientific Significance

The Lagoon Nebula is a key object for studying star formation and the evolution of massive stars. Its proximity and brightness make it a prime target for both amateur astronomers and professional researchers using advanced telescopes, such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the Very Large Telescope.

Grok AI

Constellation Sagittarius

Additional information from human

It is considered to be the second brightest nebula in the Earth’s sky, and one of two hydrogen nebulae visible to the naked eye (for an observer in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere). The first to come to mind is the Orion Nebula. Is there anything comparable to it in the sky? — Yes — There is the Lagoon Nebula.

But it is not easy to see the Lagoon with the naked eye. Its integral brightness is about 6m — right at the limit of the eye’s penetrating ability. If it is possible to see it without optics somewhere, then only high in the mountains. And it is not at all surprising that the Lagoon was discovered using a telescope, even the simplest one. Different sources give different discoverers. It is believed that this nebula was observed by Giovanni Hodierna back in 1654 or even earlier — in fact, in the era of Galileo. But then, telescopic study of the skies was not yet mainstream in astronomy, not everyone was in a hurry to talk about it. And Hodierna’s discovery did not become generally known at the time. That is why the French astronomer Guillaume le Gentil, who discovered a wispy foggy cloud in the constellation Sagittarius a century later, is sometimes mentioned as the discoverer of the Lagoon Nebula.

The Lagoon is located literally in the direction of the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, at a distance of 5,200 light years from us (until recently, distance estimates varied greatly — from 4 to 6 thousand light years, but in any case, the Lagoon is still very far from the center of the Milky Way). Interestingly, the famous Orion Nebula, often mentioned in connection with the Lagoon, is located almost in the opposite direction — away from the center of the Galaxy (but a little closer to us — 1,300 light years, which means that the Lagoon is much larger and brighter than the Orion Nebula … would be under equal conditions).

The M8 nebula has a physical diameter of 50 to 100 light years (it is oblong), in its huge volume young hot — sometimes very massive — stars are intensively born. It is the same maternity hospital for new galactic luminaries as the Orion Nebula.

The lagoon is adjacent to a large number of other interesting objects, which the constellation Sagittarius is rich in. Sometimes it seems that Sagittarius has attracted most of the pearls of visual and photographic astronomy. But the center of the Galaxy is to blame for everything — it is to it that both Nebulae and star clusters gravitate, which are most often present in the central parts of hydrogen nebulae — they are born in them. Laguna also has its own cluster — NGC 6530.

The visualization provided as an example is based on an astrophotography by Andre Helmuth and Jan Beckman, published on the Astrobin website — there this image became the winner of regular ratings, and in terms of detail it competes with the best professional photographs, although it was made using a telescope with a mirror diameter of 12 inches — quite serious, but not too big in comparison with the multi-meter giants of the top observatories.

[klimkovsky]

Open star cluster Messier 7, also known as the Ptolemy Cluster

Open star cluster Messier 7, is drawn by the Grok AI

Messier 7, also known as M7, the Ptolemy Cluster, or NGC 6475, is an open star cluster in the constellation Scorpius. Here's some key information about M7:

Basic Information:

Type: Open Star Cluster

Constellation: Scorpius

Catalog Numbers: Messier 7, NGC 6475

Right Ascension: 17h 53m 51.2s

Declination: -34° 47' 34"

Distance: Approximately 980 light-years from Earth

Physical Characteristics:

Age: Estimated to be about 200 million years old.

Number of Stars: Contains roughly 80 to 100 stars, with some estimates going up to several hundred.

Diameter: The cluster spans about 25 light-years across. Visually, it covers about 80 arcminutes, making it one of the larger and more prominent open clusters in the sky.

Visual Appearance:

Magnitude: M7 has an apparent magnitude of about 3.3, making it visible to the naked eye under good viewing conditions. It's one of the brighter objects in the Messier catalog.

Color: The stars in M7 vary in color, with many being blue and white, indicative of hotter, younger stars.

Historical Observations:

Discovery: M7 was one of the first objects known to ancient astronomers. It was cataloged by Ptolemy in his "Almagest" around 130 AD, thus sometimes called the Ptolemy Cluster.

Messier Catalog: Charles Messier added it to his catalog in 1764 as M7.

Observing M7:

Visibility: It's best observed in the summer months in the Southern Hemisphere or the late spring/early summer in the Northern Hemisphere, when Scorpius is well placed in the evening sky.

Telescopic Observation: With binoculars or a small telescope, M7 resolves into a beautiful cluster of stars, with many individual stars visible even in modest instruments.

Scientific Significance:

Study of Star Formation: Open clusters like M7 are crucial for understanding stellar evolution since all stars within such a cluster formed at roughly the same time from the same molecular cloud.

Astrophysical Research: Measurements of the brightness and color of stars in M7 help in determining their ages, distances, and evolutionary paths.

Source: Grok AI

Addition to brief information from AI

In the middle northern latitudes, the Ptolemy cluster is not observable. There, it either does not rise or does not rise to a height sufficient for confident visibility. And only starting from the latitude of the subtropics can it be observed with light optics, and even further south - in the tropical zone of the northern hemisphere - with the naked eye.

Claudius Ptolemy conducted his observations from Egyptian Alexandria. And more northern astronomers of antiquity did not notice this cluster. Because its integral brightness - 3m - decreased significantly as it approached the horizon due to atmospheric absorption.

A small remark regarding the number of stars in this cluster

There are about a hundred identified participants. Why do astronomers talk about several hundred stars possibly included in the cluster?

Because for the stable existence of a cluster of 25 light years (moreover, the radius of gravitational dominance for this cluster is estimated at 40 light years), its mass must be at least 800 solar masses. On average, each visible star must have a mass of about 10 solar masses, and this is a fairly large mass - the mass of a supergiant star. But such are not observed in the cluster - there are mainly stars of medium masses and luminosities. Consequently, a significant part of the cluster is represented by dwarf stars, like the Sun or less massive.

By the way, if we place our Sun at a distance of 1000 light years (approximately this distance is removed from us by the Ptolemy cluster), then without taking into account the absorption of light by the interstellar medium, it would have only 13 stellar magnitude, and such stars - background and not only - in the visible limits of this cluster are a great number. But the amount of light absorption in the direction of the center of the Galaxy (and this is the direction we are looking when observing the Ptolemy cluster) is significant. And the main part of the stellar population of the cluster is most likely weaker than the 15th stellar magnitude. All objects of such brightness have not yet been studied by astronomers.

But astronomers have studied the distribution of stars by mass in open clusters, from which we can draw a simple conclusion: If we observe a certain number of bright and clearly visible stars in a particular open cluster, then most likely the total number of all stars in the cluster is at least 10 times greater.

New image from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, shows the bright star cluster Messier 7, aka NGC 6475

Image source