Academia, Bizarre, Environment, Science

Carina, Carina, Where You Been So Long . . .

This amazing picture was snapped by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, showing “activity atop a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars.” For the rest of us, it is a picture of a cool colorful space cloud. NASA is celebrating 20 years with Hubble with its greatest hits series.


You can visit this particular space tourist trap by going to the Carina Nebula, just 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina.

NASA explains: “Scorching radiation and fast winds (streams of charged particles) from super-hot newborn stars in the nebula are shaping and compressing the pillar, causing new stars to form within it. Streamers of hot ionized gas can be seen flowing off the ridges of the structure, and wispy veils of gas and dust, illuminated by starlight, float around its towering peaks. The denser parts of the pillar are resisting being eroded by radiation much like a towering butte in Utah’s Monument Valley withstands erosion by water and wind.”

I recommend singing Corina, Corina while viewing the images:

Corina, Corina where you been so long
Corina, Corina where you been so long
I ain’t had no lovin’ since you’ve been gone

Well I love Corina, tell the world I do
I love Corina, tell the world I do
Just a little more loving let your heart be true

For the full story, click here.

14 thoughts on “Carina, Carina, Where You Been So Long . . .”

  1. Buddha,

    I know. Did I tell you about this ache in the diodes all down my left side? I hope I’m not getting you down…

  2. Slarti,

    A brain the size of a planet and you tell me about the frogstar. How very depressing. 😉

  3. Buddha,

    Dude, talking to Marvin is DANGEROUS! Look what happened to the frogstar robot when he talked to it… I’m not getting you down, am I?

  4. Slarti,

    Hey! What’s wrong with Marvin. Sure, he’s a drag at a party, but he’s occasionally helpful. Certainly not intrinsically evil on the level of a Berserker.

    On a side note, if they ever do make a Berserker film, it’d be really funny to have Alan Rickman provide the voice for one. 😀

  5. “Don’t talk to aliens, warns Dr. Hawking!”

    “It started with a low light
    next thing I know they ripped me from my bed
    and they took my blood type
    it left a strange impression in my head
    you know that I was hoping
    that I could leave this star crossed world behind
    but when they cut me open
    I guess I changed my mind…..”

  6. Buddha,

    Everyone knows that you shouldn’t talk to alien robots (beserkers, Daleks, Marvin, etc.) – all of the good robots are built by humans (like Daneel and Data).

  8. Wow, the professor knows Steppenwolf. Maybe he is more well rounded that I thought.

  9. If you’ve ever needed perspective on how small and insignificant we are in the universe..well here you go

    AMNHorg — December 15, 2009 — The Known Universe takes viewers from the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible because of the world’s most complete four-dimensional map of the universe

    sorry no embedding on this video

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U

    it’s not Hubble but I love this picture

    http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090927.html

  10. Nal,

    Ray Peterson’s version of ‘Corina, Corina’ was the best amongst many good renditions by other popular artists. That song–of which I own several vinyl and digital copies–is a classic old blues tune that became popular in the early 1960s. The 1940s version of ‘Corrine, Corrina’, with fiddle backup by Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys is a classic, of which I also have a recording.

    I never heard Steppenwolf’s horrendous version before today. Suffice to say, me n’ the Prof aint on the same musical wavelengths.

  11. If you decide to visit the Carina Nebula, don’t forget to bring a jacket because it is freezing cold.

  12. And so say all of us BF!

    Sagan was brilliant. I was doing Physics and Chemistry A-Levels when Cosmos was aired in the UK. I’ve been hooked on Cosmology ever since.

    Watch out for documentaries presented by Professor Brian Cox – really friendly presentation style and able to get those big ideas across.

    In a recent BBC interview he was asked who his influences were. Without a moments hesitation he said “Carl Sagan”.

  13. Happy 20th, HubbleST.

    “We embarked on our journey to the stars with a question first framed in the childhood of our species and in each generation asked anew with undiminished wonder: What are the stars? Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.” –Carl Sagan

  14. I like the Ray Peterson version:

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thAbnp5EC-U&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

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