Hubble Space Telescope Captures Butterfly Nebula #HubbleSpaceTelescope #nebula #butterfly - http://clapway.com/2015/08/27/hubble-space-telescope-butterfly-nebula123/

Pretty strange and mysterious things occur in space. Take for example, the awe-inspiring mixture of interstellar gas and dust seen in the “Pillars of Creation.” The photo, taken on April 1, 1995, has quite a reputation among astronomers and layfolk alike. Unsurprisingly, it was named by Space.com as one of the top ten photographs taken by NASA/ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope. A new photo of Twin Jet Nebula, however, looks like it might give the “Pillars of Creation” a run for its money.

Hubble Space Telescope Captures Stunning Image of Twin Jet Nebula

This time around, Hubble was able to capture a shot of a “dying, binary star” or Twin Jet Nebula. According to Gizmodo, the photo was released to the public today, and features the nebula’s “two shimmering lobes” that somewhat resemble the wings of a butterfly (at least a galactic one).

The nebula, or PN M2-9, was discovered in 1947 by Rudolph Minkowski, a German-American Astronomer. The glowing and “expanding shells of gas” that can be seen stretching outwards from the center are indicative of the final stages of life for an old star. During this phase, the star would have ejected its outer layers to expose its core; the rainbow colors you can see so well in the picture are caused when the core illuminates these layers.

This photo, in particular, depicts a bipolar nebula (two stars) – each of which have the same mass as the sun. The butterfly-wing effect is mostly likely caused by the movement of the two central stars – consisting of a white dwarf and its partner star – as they navigate around each other. According to CBS News, this white dwarf star is thought to be orbiting its partner star, which helps to pull the ejected gas, moving at speeds close to 620,000 miles an hour, from the dying star into the formation of two lobes.

In describing the photo, NASA states:

“Within the wings, starting from the star system and extending horizontally outwards like veins are two faint blue patches.”

Based on the information gathered from this picture and through observations, astronomers believe that the nebula was created roughly 1,200 years ago – a very short time, considering the over timeline of space and the universe.

More on Hubble? Click here.

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Hubble Space Telescope Captures Butterfly Nebula

No more #blues for the #karner #blue #butterfles. - http://clapway.com/2015/07/26/the-karner-blue-butterfly-makes-a-comeback-238/

There is good news for the silvery-blue Karner Blue butterfly, as decades of habitat restoration and conservation are finally starting to pay off. The long-endangered species is starting to show increased numbers across the US, with their populations booming in parts of Ohio, New Hampshire, and New York.

Vladimir’s Karner Blue Butterfly Blues

The Karner Blue butterfly was first discovered in 1944 by Russian author Vladimir Nabokov, in Albany’s Pine Bush—a forest of Pine Barrens in New York. It was Nabokov’s fascination with the Karner Blue that sparked its popularity in the US, as well as recognition by biologists and conservationists worldwide. It can be said that Nabokov is the grandfather of the Endangered Species Act, as his obsession with the Karner Blue led officials to add it as one of first species to be protected under its legislation in 1992.

DECLINE IN NUMBERS

The Karner Blue butterfly lives in small populations in Miller Beach, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, eastern Minnesota, and New York, typically setting in the oak savannas and pine barrens that make great habitats for their survival. However, these habitats have been directly affected by increasing industry and land development long before Nabokov discovered them, leading to a sharp and steady decline in their numbers.

According to recent studies and fieldwork, increased deer populations, the frequent mowing of grass, and the use of herbicides that kill sources of nectar including the wild lupine–the primary food source of the Karner Blue—are other activities that can cause serious harm to their dwindling populations.

THE KARNER’S BIG COMEBACK

Since their placement on the endangered species list, more than two decades of conservation and breeding efforts are finally starting to show some positive results. In Albany’s Pine Bush alone, the Karner Blue has already increased from an initial 200 butterflies living on 13 acres, to 14,000 on 400 acres. According to the Karner Blue Butterfly Recovery Program, this increase in numbers is a result of years spent fine-tuning methods used to raise and breed the species.

This includes the finding of a way to provide them with nectar 365 days a year, despite seasonal variations that may interfere with plant growth, as well as the inclusion of heterogeneity to their environment—a big fancy word that means “made up of parts that are different.” A heterogeneous environment is vital to the survival of Karner Blues, which require a diverse amount of environmental accommodations for each stage in their development.

However, not all conservation efforts have been so successful. Habitat restoration and breeding in Indiana has been largely fruitless, with populations of Karner Blue butterflies staying at consistently low levels for years.

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Good news for the blue butterflies and a plus for nature — Atmoph’s everything:

The Karner Blue Butterfly Makes a Comeback

New Butterfly Species Found in India - http://clapway.com/2015/07/12/new-butterfly-species-found-in-india432/

Perhaps one’s first images of India is exotic-tasting food, or those fond childhood memories of parents The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling aloud. By habit, we form associations to the exotic place, and one that most zoologists immediately form to India is the staggering amount of biodiversity.

New butterfly species is found

Recently,news has been circulating about a new butterfly species being found in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh. The find was released in the Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera back in June in the forty-eighth volume.

The new butterfly species has been given the scientific name Hypolycaena. It is otherwise known as the Banded Tit butterfly. The butterfly’s existence on paper was documented and sent in around April to the journal but wasn’t accepted until the first of June then printed on the 23rd.

The official announcement of the new butterfly species was released by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Dr. Yogesh. Dr. Yogesh has research experience of 28 years in microbial ecology, molecular taxonomy, and biology. He has contributed to science journals with his research numerous times over his career.

What does the finding mean for the region?

Dr. Yogesh commented on the discovery of this new butterfly species by saying that this latest species finding emphasizes just how unique the diversity of animal species, is in this region. At the moment, there is not much known about the species apart from initial impressions and categorizations.

The uniqueness of the new butterfly species

This butterfly is a fascinating find because of its life cycle, in that the mature butterflies only live for two weeks in March every year and are speculated to spend the rest of the year inactive as pupae or larvae. The infancy stages are still unknown and not much study has been done but the food reliance is on bird droppings by streams.

Because of the lack of sufficient in-depth research, much about the butterfly is not known including behavior and environment and other such things. To put things into perspective, it was only a few years ago that another different butterfly species was discovered in the region called the Bright-eyed Argus. So, there is much that still isn’t known about many species, and still others be waiting to be discovered.

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New Butterfly Species Found in India