February 6, 2006
The light from the farthest visible stars set out on its journey long before your first birthday.
The N44 Superbubble
Birthday · February 6, 2006
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
Free PNG · 1080 × 1350 · No account needed
Image rights and credit requirements apply when sharing or reusing imagery.
Date & occasion only
Change the year
APOD published February 6, 2006. Credit: Gemini Obs.. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What created this gigantic hole? The vast emission nebula N44 in our neighboring galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud has a large, 250 light-year hole and astronomers are trying to figure out why. One possibility is particle winds expelled by massive stars in the bubble's interior that are pushing out the glowing gas. This answer has been recently found to be inconsistent with measured wind velocities, however. Another possibility is that the expanding shells of old supernovas have sculpted the unusual space cavern. An unexpected clue of hot X-ray emitting gas was recently been detected escaping the N44 superbubble. The above image, here digitally sharpened, was taken in three very specific colors by the huge 8-meter Gemini South Telescope on Cerro Pachon in Chile.
Image credit: Gemini Obs.