Can a gas cloud eat a galaxy? It's not even close. The odd looking "creature" or "hand" extending down from the top of the above photo [
http://www.astronom… ] is a gas cloud known as a cometary globule [
http://www.public.i… ]. This globule, however, has ruptured. Cometary globules [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] are typically characterized by dusty [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] heads and elongated tails [
http://adsabs.harva… ]. These features cause cometary globules [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] to have visual similarities to comets, but in reality they are very much different. Globules [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] are frequently the birthplaces of stars, and many show very young stars in their heads. The reason for the rupture in the head of this object is not completely known. The galaxy [
http://en.wikipedia… ] to the near the bottom of the image is huge, very far in the distance, and only placed near CG4 [
http://adsabs.harva… ] by chance superposition.
explanation
Can a gas cloud eat a galaxy? It's not even close. The odd looking "creature" or "hand" extending down from the top of the above photo [ http://www.astronomie.be/hambsch/namibia07/p21338_50f3.htm ] is a gas cloud known as a cometary globule [ http://www.public.iastate.edu/~sdk/fick/april.html ]. This globule, however, has ruptured. Cometary globules [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020325.html ] are typically characterized by dusty [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#dust ] heads and elongated tails [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1996ApJ...463L.105M ]. These features cause cometary globules [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020108.html ] to have visual similarities to comets, but in reality they are very much different. Globules [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041020.html ] are frequently the birthplaces of stars, and many show very young stars in their heads. The reason for the rupture in the head of this object is not completely known. The galaxy [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy ] to the near the bottom of the image is huge, very far in the distance, and only placed near CG4 [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1995A%26A...293..493G ] by chance superposition.
Explanation
false