Hubble Telescope Captures Sharpest Image Yet of Mysterious Red Rectangle

Discussion in 'Science and Technology' started by Dryson, Apr 25, 2016.

  1. Dryson

    Dryson Commodore Commodore

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  2. rhubarbodendron

    rhubarbodendron Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I am a bit sceptical about this one and think it's most likely an optical artifact. I recon some object is between the nebula and the lense which makes the nebula appear angular. Perhaps a binary star or a binary black hole. A string of dark matter might also cause such an effect on light waves.
    In my experience, at least on our planet nothing exists that causes things to physically bend at such sharp angles. Nature has a tendency to use smooth curves as they are more efficient, energetically. It's logical to assume that our planet is no exception to the rules of fluid mechanics (the name is a bit confusing - fluid mechanics also covers the movements of gases and solids, not just liquids).
    I think we can safely exclude cristallisation, the only natural phenomenon where sharp angles are involved. A cristal this size would break under the gravitational strain or be visible in the photo (or both).
    There's a vague - and purely hypothetical - chance that the effect would be caused by a crossing point of cosmic strings. If that were the case, similar optical effects would occur along the strings and we'd detect them. As this hasn't be the case yet, this hypothesis seems impropable.

    At any rate it's a fascinating object with its own very special beauty. Thanks for pointing it out to us, Dyson =)
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2016
  3. Doom Shepherd

    Doom Shepherd Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Not really mysterious anymore. It's long been known that a spherical gas ejection from a star hitting a dust torus can produce a shape like this.

    Those lines aren't actually "sharp" and "straight."
     
  4. Metryq

    Metryq Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Only if it's dark on Tuesday.
     
  5. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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