Famous, rare ‘pinwheel death star’ isn’t a threat after all

Famous, rare ‘pinwheel death star’ isn’t a threat after all

View larger. | Artist’s concept of the Wolf-Rayet 104 pinwheel star system. A new study confirms 2 massive stars are orbiting each other in this system, producing a giant spiral composed of hydrocarbon dust. The study also shows the poles of the stars are not oriented directly toward us as 1st thought, so there is little to no danger of a gamma-ray burst from them hitting Earth, if one of the stars explodes in a supernova. Image via W. M. Keck O…

M101 the Pinwheel galaxy

M101, The Pinwheel Galaxy  Click image for full size version March 25, 2025 This galaxy is catalogued as M101, but is commonly referred to as the Pinwheel Galaxy. It is close to the handle of the Big Dipper. I have always found this a particularly difficult target to image well. For this image, I combined [...] The post M101, The Pinwheel Galaxy appeared first on Astrodoc: Astrophotography by Ron Brecher.