I asked my husband about this, since he's a keen amateur astronomer. He recognised the picture, and supplied some background and links (below).
Linda Walton. > > > From: Danek Duvall > > > I wish I knew what this really was; it's stunning (even though it > > seems to be closer to a *human* eye to me...) > > Not sure what exactly it is, but it's pretty similar to the Ring Nebula: > > http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m057.html (good information) > http://store3.yimg.com/I/skyimage_1785_7550819 (good picture) > > albeit with a little touch-up to make it look more like an eye. It > could also just be entirely computer generated. Still pretty cool, > though. > > Danek > ----- > Tamara P Duvall > Lexington, Virginia, USA > Formerly of Warsaw, Poland > http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd/ The image referred to is the Helix Nebula - a planetary nebula. It is the same type of object as the Ring Nebula - as Tamara links to - but is closer and bigger. This link http://www.snopes.com/photos/space/eyeofgod.asp gives some of the history of the "eye of God" appellation, - apparently NASA never referred to it as such. And this http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030510.html is the original NASA posting. Very pretty; I would like to see it, but it is rather dim and I would need a dark sky - preferably further South. Chris. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
