Voorwerpjes in Space
Explanation:
Mysterious
Hanny's Voorwerp,
Dutch for "Hanny's Object", is really enormous,
about the size of the Milky Way Galaxy and glowing strongly
in the greenish light produced by ionized oxygen atoms.
It is thought to be a tidal tail of material left by an
ancient galaxy merger, illuminated and ionized by the outburst of a
quasar inhabiting
the center of distant spiral galaxy IC 2497.
Its exciting 2007 discovery by Dutch schoolteacher
Hanny van Arkel
while participating online in the Galaxy Zoo project
has
since inspired a search and
discovery of eight
more eerie green cosmic features.
Imaged in these panels by the Hubble Space Telescope,
all eight appear near galaxies with energetic cores.
Far outside their
associated galaxies, these objects are
also likely echoes of quasar activity, illuminated only as light
from a core quasar outburst reaches them and ultimately
fading tens of thousands of years after the quasar outburst
itself has faded away.
Of course a galaxy merger like the impending
merger of our own Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy,
could also trigger the birth of a quasar that would
illuminate our distant future version
of Hanny's Voorwerp.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
