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Hubble Captures the Violent Birth of a Star

Posted by timothy on from the in-space-no-one-gets-an-epidural dept.

The Bad Astronomer writes "In what is one of the most staggeringly beautiful Hubble pictures ever taken, a newly-born massive star is blasting four separate jets of material into its surrounding cocoon, carving out cavities in the material over two light years long. But only three of the jets appear to have matter still inside them, and the central star is off-center. This may be a gorgeous picture, but the science behind it is equally as compelling."

5 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. Goatse has scarred me by regular_guy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's the first image that immediately came to mind when I saw this picture. Not the awesomeness of the universe, but someone's bum. Tragic.

    1. Re:Goatse has scarred me by SirGarlon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You're only crazy if you see Jesus in toast and think it's not a coincidence.

      --
      [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
    2. Re:Goatse has scarred me by Maritz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Partly chance, also pareidolia. The brain is very good at picking out patterns, regardless of whether they're really there.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  2. They don't really look like that, do they? by mark-t · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that the colorful photos that you see from the Hubble are only pretty because it's been 'shopped like nobody's business. Sure what you're seeing is really out there, but it doesn't actually look like that... and if you were to be at a point in space such that your normal field of vision only envelops roughly the same area as what the photo contains, you would surely see similarities... probably enough to even make a strong connection between them... but not the vibrant colors that space photos so often contain. It is like the difference between a decorated christmas tree, and a decorated christmas tree with many hundreds of lights.

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
  3. Re:alternately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Oh, fuck off, you goddamned political hack. We were having a fun time making nerdy jokes about something as both grandiose and beautiful as the forming of a fucking star , and you have to bring your bullshit politics into it.

    Seriously, do people like you ever relax? Ever joke around without dragging The Other Team into it? Do you realize you're the problem with the world, America in particular?

    No, I don't really want to argue this with you. Nobody does. Nobody cares about you. So just sit your ass down, shut the fuck up, and enjoy the star being formed already.