Astronomy shock: Three spectacular phenomena align in the heavens – Express.co.uk
SPACE enthusiasts were stunned to see a holy trinity of cosmic phenomena last night as three astronomical events littered the heavens.
A triangle of celestial bodies lit up the distant night sky on February 25 for a brief period of time, with some lucky astronomers fortunate to witness the event. Space experts stated that a “strange triangle” appeared deep inside the big dipper as serendipitous astronomical event took place.
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Astronomers noted three differing objects inside the Big Dipper – they were the green Comet ATLAS, the blue Owl Nebula and the silver Surfboard Galaxy.
Website Space Weather said: “Deep inside the Big Dipper, a strange triangle appeared. It lasted for only a few hours, but Gerald Rhemann was ready and he photographed it from his back yard in Eichgraben, Lower Austria.
“The vertices were a green comet, a blue nebula, and a silvery galaxy.
“This triangle appeared, oh so briefly, when Comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) flew past the Owl Nebula (M97) and the Surfboard Galaxy (M108) on Feb. 25th.
The green Comet ATLAS, the blue Owl Nebula and the silver Surfboard Galaxy (Image: Gerald Rhemann)
Astronomy shock: Three spectacular phenomena align in the heavens (Image: GETTY)
“The threesome is breaking up now because Comet ATLAS has to be somewhere else. It’s about to visit to the sun.
“On May 31, 2020, Comet ATLAS will dip inside the orbit of Mercury only 0.25 AU from the sun. Astronomers have seen a comet do this before.
“Comet ATLAS’s orbit is similar to that of the Great Comet of 1844, which was visible in broad daylight when it passed very close to the sun in the 19th century. Indeed, Comet ATLAS might be a fragment of that Great Comet.”
The Owl Nebula is is located in the constellation of Hydra and 4,300 light years from Earth.
The silver Surfboard Galaxy (Image: NASA)
It is a “planetary nebula” created by an ageing star with a mass less than around eight times that of the sun shedding its outer layers.
Ultraviolet radiation from the star’s core causes the gas “shell” to glow as it expands outwards.
After the nebula has faded, the leftover remnant at its centre will become a tiny, hot and very dense “white dwarf” that will slowly cool over millions of years.
The Surfboard Galaxy is located 45.99 million light years and at 13.27 billion years old, it is almost as ancient as the universe itself.
The Owl Nebula (Image: NASA)
NASA said on its website: “At the centre of M108 is a supermassive black hole estimated to be 24 million times as massive as the Sun.
“The Chandra X-ray Observatory discovered multiple X-ray sources in M108, with the brightest X-ray source suspected to be an intermediately sized black hole that is actively accreting material.
“M108 is one of the largest and brightest members of the Ursa Major cluster, as well as part of the Virgo supercluster of galaxies.
“It has a magnitude of 10 and is located just under the bowl of the Big Dipper. M108 can be seen with small telescopes as an elliptical streak of light with a brighter core, while telescopes 8 inches or larger will reveal more detail.
“The best time to observe M108 is in April, but it can be seen throughout the year for those in the Northern Hemisphere.”
