Twirling, twirling, twirling toward the nebulous 3rd dimension

February 22, 2013 11:15 AM

Finnish astrophotographer J-P Metsävainio has created some stunning 3D animations (more at his blog) of far-flung nebula. Phil Plait first pointed to them back in October. Today, there's a post on the Smithsonian Magazine's website about them.
posted by IvoShandor (5 comments total)

How fast and far away would a spaceship be traveling around a nebula, with these animations?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:35 AM on February 22

I came across one of these a few days ago randomly on Tumblr and thought "How did they do that? That's not real!". Looks like I was right, they aren't "real" but they are stunning.
posted by Jimbob at 12:55 PM on February 22

I'd imagine any of these structures to be on the order of several light-years across at minimum, so figure a standoff distance of tens of light-years and basically you're doing the Kessel Run or something like it.
posted by dhartung at 2:28 PM on February 22 [1 favorite]

Gorgeous.
posted by doctornemo at 7:54 AM on February 23

The Cone Nebula image reminds me of a woman holding her baby, and looking out onto the edge of heaven.
posted by Oyéah at 1:24 PM on February 23