Image in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Exercise 1: What do you see in this NASA image of a region in the Small Magellanic Cloud?

The original image, downloadable in various formats, is at http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/5569-sig13-002-Taken-Under-the-Wing-of-the-Small-Magellanic-Cloud

This image is color-coded for different varieties of light: the ordinary blue/green/red colors are optical light images taken with Hubble Space Telescope (HST), purple represents X-ray emission (Chandra X-ray Observatory), and magenta represents infrared emission from the Spitzer Space Observatory.

Examine the image carefully, and see how many different types of astronomical objects you can find in it. Make a note of at least one example of each kind of object and where it is in the picture. The list from the Cast of Characters presented in class may be helpful (see Class Slides for Aug. 27); a few additional types of structures are defined in the Box on p. 4 of the textbook. You can also suggest new types of structures you suspect are present in the image.

Come prepared to name some such objects in class on Tues., Sep. 1.