New Nebula Discovered

This is cool (HT: WorldNetDaily). It's the kind of article I usually send to my astrophysics-major friend, who usually already knows about it.

Cosmic nebulae usually look like blobs in space, but astronomers using the Spitzer Space Telescope reported on Wednesday they have found a nebula twisted like the double helix of DNA.

Click on the picture in the article for a better look. Of course, the article doesn't tell you what a Spitzer Space Telescope is until the last paragraph.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope detects the infrared energy emitted by objects in space with high sensitivity and resolution, enabling it to clearly see the nebula's distinctive shape.

And even that isn't enough information. Where is this telescope anyway? CalTech had the answer:

The Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly SIRTF, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility) was launched into space by a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida on 25 August 2003. During its 2.5-year mission, Spitzer will obtain images and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects in space between wavelengths of 3 and 180 microns (1 micron is one-millionth of a meter). Most of this infrared radiation is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere and cannot be observed from the ground.

OK. That works for me. Back to the nebula.

The strands of the nebula may be torqued by twisted magnetic fields at the Milky Way's center, Morris said by telephone.

These magnetic fields are indirectly spawned by the gaping black hole at the galactic heart, he said. Black holes are massive matter-sucking drains in space, pulling in everything around them so powerfully that not even light can escape.

But before the matter falls into the black hole, it swirls around its edges. This rotation twists the magnetic fields, which in turn twist the nebula's strands, Morris said.

The nebula is relatively close to the black hole, just 300 light-years away. Earth is more than 25,000 light-years away.

I love this stuff. The universe is an amazing place, and it's at its best when it surprises the experts. I'm just happy to go along for the ride.