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Twisters in space: cue Beethoven
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This Hubble Telescope snapshot unveils a pair of one-half, light-year-long interstellar "twisters" -- eerie funnels and twisted-rope structures (upper left) -- in the heart of the Lagoon Nebula (M8) which lies 5,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.
The hot, central star, O Herschel 36 (upper left), is the primary source of the illuminating light for the brightest region in the nebula, called the Hourglass. The glare from this hot star is eroding the clouds by heating the hydrogen gas in them, seen as a blue mist at the right of the image). This activity drives away violent stellar winds that are tearing into the cool clouds.
Image Credit: NASA/A. Caulet (ST-ECF, ESA)
Imagine that: twisters, wind shear, and updraft in space. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore! So far, though, no one has tossed a Dorothy tornado research device into the Lagoon, as scientsts did to Oklahoma storms in the movie Twister..
Hubble's journey of exploration has sent home photos of incandescent beauty, images that have advanced scientific knowledge of our universe and how it all works. I'm of the belief that art and science are not competitors, but instead are allies, for one challenges and stimulates the other.
In this video, a YouTuber calling himself "Secular Astronomer" pairs Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in D Minor with a gallery of Hubble nebulae shots. Grab your favorite coffee, lean back and enjoy the art of science.
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