The Astrology of Space - Matrix Software

The Astrology of Space
Radio emission from within our galaxy
Emission within our galaxy, aside from background
emission, consists of several types:
(A) Supernovae Remnants. The most intense
discrete radio source Cassiopeia A – a non-thermal
source. Cassiopeia A is believed to be the remains or
remnant of a supernova detonation around the year
1700 A.D. (SN II type). The first identification of a
radio source with an optical object other than the Sun
was the strong non-thermal Taurus A with the Crab
Nebula – another remnant of a supernova explosion
in A.D. 1054 (SN I type). Other strong non-thermal
sources include Puppis A and the Tycho and Kepler
supernovae remnants.
(B) Ionized hydrogen Clouds. The interstellar
hydrogen in our galaxy tends to be distributed in vast
clouds. When a hot star is in or near one of these
clouds, its ultra-violet radiation tends to ionize the
cloud and causes it to emit (thermal) continuum
radiation. The young and hot O and B stars are often
the exciting sources. Well-known examples of thermal
-hydrogen (H II) cloud radio sources are the Orion
and Rosette nebulae, the Cygnus X source, and the
North American, Omega, and Lagoon Nebulae.
(C) Neutral Hydrogen (21cm) Emission. One of the
more important results of radio astronomy has been
the detection of 21-cm emission in the clouds of
neutral hydrogen that occurs in the spiral arms of the
galaxy. A tendency in the hydrogen atom toward a
lower energy state results in the emission of radiation
at a wavelength of 21 cm. Radio astronomers can
detect this radiation and the resulting maps have
provided us with the first real picture of the spiral arm
structure of the galaxy.
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