A Collection of Peculiarly-Worded Astronomy Articles

Over 2011 and early 2012, I have been keeping track of peculiarly worded astronomy articles, some of which are oxymorons, puns, and other funnily-worded phrases. [Below, for reference, is the article title, the publishing date, and the website on which it was taken | Dates are most current, first]. All of these have a corresponding article, they are not imagined - the authors did have a great imagination!

[Articles will keep on being added if they fit the bill!]

Shedding Light on the Moon's Dark Side (February 29, 2012) Earth Sky

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Sheep in Wolf-Rayet's Clothing: New Image of Planetary Nebula Hen 3-1333 (February 20, 2012) Science Daily

El Gordo: A "Fat" Distant Galaxy Cluster (January 10, 2012) ESO 

Young Star Rebels Against its Parent's Cloud (December 15, 2011) Hubble European Space Agency

Sh2-239: Celestial Impasto (December 8, 2011) APOD

As sure as eggs are eggs (October 4, 2011) Supernova Condensate

Feast Your Eyes on the Fried Egg Nebula -- ESO's VLT spots a rare treat (September 28, 2011) ESO

Astronomers Crack the Fried Egg Nebula (September 27, 2011) Science Daily

Frankenstein's Moon: Astronomers Vindicate Account of Masterwork (September 26, 2011) Texas State University 

How Single Stars Lost their Companions (September 15, 2011) Royal Astronomical Society

Neutron Star Bites off More Than it Can Chew (June 28, 2011) ESA

Pandora's Cluster: A Galactic Crash Investigation (June 23, 2011) Hubble European Space Agency

Astronomers Discover that Galaxies are Either Asleep or Awake (June 22, 2011) Yale University News

Baby Stars Born to "Napping" Parents (June 15, 2011) Cardiff University

Feuding Helium Dwarfs Stars Exposed by Eclipse (May 26, 2011) Warwick University

Supernova Sonata! (May 26, 2011) APOD

Caught in the Act: Herschel Detects Gigantic Storms Sweeping Entire Galaxies Clean (May 9, 2011) Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (MPE), via AlphaGalileo.

Stjernedannelse I Carinatåken: Star Formation in the Carina Nebula

Bildet avdekker derfor skyer av støv og molekylær gass, hovedsakelig hydrogen, som stjerner kan dannes fra. Med en temperatur på –250 grader Celsius er støvkornene svært kalde, og den svake strålingen de sender ut kan bare sees på submillimeter bølgelengder, som er mye lengre enn bølgelengdene til synlig lys. Submillimeterlys er derfor nøkkelen til å undersøke hvordan stjerner fødes og hvordan de vekselvirker med skyene de ble dannet fra.

The Carina Nebula has been noted for its voluminous amounts of star formation which occurs within its colorful gas pouches and dark matter rivers. Many astronomers have been fascinated by the birth of new stars which occur here, but now with the APEX telescope in submillimeter-wavelengths, astronomers are able to see farther into what this nebula actually is. According to the European Southern Observatory, the Carina Nebula is a place where stars are violently birthed, which the coming forth of the greatest-massed stars take place; "an ideal arena" where the correlation and interaction between these new stars and their parents.

These stars are not your typical stars (like the Sun), but are high-energy stars which live only about one million years (rather young on astronomical scales; for comparison, the sun is to live for ten billion years). Despite the fact of their short life spans, they are extremely prolific in the years which are theirs, for when they are young, the emission rate of radiation and stellar winds is catastrophic, which evidently creates the gas cloud around them - perfect for new stellar nurseries. But, within their dying days, large supernovae explosions and higher emission of stellar matter is the greatest - ending everything with a very large supernova explosion, and hence creating itself to be either a black hole, a neutron star, etc. 

Eta Carinae, a binary (or multiple) star is a variable one - changing magnitude ever so often. In February 2011, this binary (etc) was at 4.47 apparent magnitude, but it's true magnitude is -5.50 (approximately). This is a very luminous star and it sets an example as one of the luminous stars of the Carina Nebula. It's mass is terribly large, 100-150 times that of our sun, and is soon (in the next million years) to explode as a supernova, ending its prolific life. How will Eta Carinae be prolific? After the supernova explosion has taken place, Eta Carinae will emit much stellar matter so that a star nursery is formed, henceforth new stars will come from that gas field.

One theory of Eta Carinae's ultimate fate

You can read more about the Carina Nebula at European Southern Observatory. [The Norwegian text above can be found in the article above.]

The Firework Nebula

No other picture is better for the fourth of July - the firework nebula! Text Credit NASA.

Explanation: Imaged by the WIYN Telescope, the Firework Nebula is the result of a type of stellar explosion called a nova. In a nova, a nuclear detonation on the surface of a compact white dwarf star blasts away material that has been dumped on its surface by a companion star. Also known as GK Persei or Nova Persei, this nova became one of the brightest stars in the night sky in the year 1901. As it faded, astronomers could see an expanding shell of gas that eventually became this spectacular nebula. While not exactly predictable, GK Per undergoes minor outbursts every three or four years.