... 2012 December 16 . MWC 922: The Red Square Nebula . ... Explanation: What could cause a nebula to appear square? ... A leading progenitor hypothesis for the square nebula is that the central star or stars somehow expelled cones of gas during a late developmental stage . ... Researchers speculate that the cones viewed from another angle would appear similar to the gigantic rings of supernova 1987A , possibly indicating that a star in MWC 922 might one day itself explode in a similar supernova . ...

... Bad Astronomy . ... Bitesize Astronomy . ... Last week's Snack talked about how black holes can affect the environment around them in such a way as to be very bright . ... It's a common misconception that black holes always have matter swirling into them. ... As this matter gets closer and closer to the black hole it piles up and a large, fairly flat disk forms. This is called the accretion disk , because matter from this disk accretes (that is, falls in) on the black hole. ... 2008 Phil Plait. ...

... Donate to Support Science Literacy . ... 2016 Annual Awards . The ASP is accepting nominations for the organizationтАЩs national annual awards which recognize special achievements in astronomy research, technology, education, and public outreach. ... Shop the AstroShop . ... The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) is accepting nominations for the organizationтАЩs national annual awards which recognize special achievements in astronomy research, technology, education, and public outreach.. ...

... This meteor shower, which reaches a peak of up to 120 meteors per hour, as seen from a clear, dark site, can be observed anytime after about 10.00pm for a few nights either side of the maximum, that is from about the 12 to 16 December. The Geminid meteors, which sometimes appear as brightly coloured relatively slow-moving fireballs, are caused by small particles mostly about the size of marbles or smaller, ejected into space from the surface of the near-Earth asteroid Phaethon . ... NASA Site . ...

... NGC 5584: Expanding the Universe . ... Big, beautiful NGC 5548 is more that 50,000 light-years across and lies 72 million light-years away toward the constellation Virgo. The winding spiral arms of this gorgeous island universe are loaded with luminous young star clusters and dark dust lanes. Still, for earthbound astronomers NGC 5548 is not just another pretty face-on spiral galaxy. Kepler s Suns and Planets . ... To find them, Kepler monitors.. ... T Tauri and Hind s Variable Nebula . ...

... STScI-PRC97-38a HUBBLE SEES SUPERSONIC EXHAUST FROM NEBULA M2-9 is a striking example of a "butterfly" or a bipolar planetary nebula. Another more revealing name might be the "Twin Jet Nebula." If the nebula is sliced across the star, each side of it appears much like a pair of exhausts from jet engines. ... The central star in M2-9 is known to be one of a very close pair which orbit one another at perilously close distances. ... M2-9 is 2,100 light-years away in the constellation Ophiucus. ...