Andrew Yee[_1_]
January 8th 08, 03:01 PM
Office of Public Affairs and Educational Outreach
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
For More Information:
Douglas Isbell
Phone: (520) 318-8214
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, January 8, 2008
RELEASE NO: NOAO 08-01
Double-Wide Image of Pickering's Triangle Shows Vast Beauty of the Cygnus
Loop
A new wide-field image of Pickering's Triangle taken with the National
Science Foundation's Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National
Observatory is being released today in Austin, Texas, at the 211th meeting
of the American Astronomical Society.
Pickering's Triangle is part of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, which
includes the famous Veil Nebula. It is located about 1,500 light-years from
Earth, in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Astronomers estimate that the
supernova explosion that produced the nebula occurred between 5,000 to
10,000 years ago; the entire shell stretches more than six full Moons in
width across the sky.
This new image was obtained in September 2007 by Travis Rector and Heidi
Schweiker by combining two full pointings of the 64-megapixel NOAO Mosaic-1
imager mounted on the historic Mayall telescope.
The image is the focal point of the exhibit booth for the National Optical
Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) at the AAS meeting in Austin (booth #204). The
image is available in a variety of file sizes at
http://www.noao.edu/outreach/press/pr08/pr0801.html#images
Image credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker and
NOAO/AURA/NSF
Located 55 miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona, Kitt Peak National
Observatory is part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. NOAO,
headquartered in Tucson, is operated by the Association of Universities for
Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the NSF.
NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in
Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under cooperative agreement with the National Science
Foundation.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
For More Information:
Douglas Isbell
Phone: (520) 318-8214
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, January 8, 2008
RELEASE NO: NOAO 08-01
Double-Wide Image of Pickering's Triangle Shows Vast Beauty of the Cygnus
Loop
A new wide-field image of Pickering's Triangle taken with the National
Science Foundation's Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National
Observatory is being released today in Austin, Texas, at the 211th meeting
of the American Astronomical Society.
Pickering's Triangle is part of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, which
includes the famous Veil Nebula. It is located about 1,500 light-years from
Earth, in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Astronomers estimate that the
supernova explosion that produced the nebula occurred between 5,000 to
10,000 years ago; the entire shell stretches more than six full Moons in
width across the sky.
This new image was obtained in September 2007 by Travis Rector and Heidi
Schweiker by combining two full pointings of the 64-megapixel NOAO Mosaic-1
imager mounted on the historic Mayall telescope.
The image is the focal point of the exhibit booth for the National Optical
Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) at the AAS meeting in Austin (booth #204). The
image is available in a variety of file sizes at
http://www.noao.edu/outreach/press/pr08/pr0801.html#images
Image credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker and
NOAO/AURA/NSF
Located 55 miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona, Kitt Peak National
Observatory is part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. NOAO,
headquartered in Tucson, is operated by the Association of Universities for
Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the NSF.
NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in
Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under cooperative agreement with the National Science
Foundation.