The Milky Way Project Talk

EGOs

  • Hannah_Ozog by Hannah_Ozog

    What are EGOs and what causes them? Why are they so special that they have their own category?

    Posted

  • ElisabethB by ElisabethB moderator

    Hi Hannah Ozog and welcome to the Zoo ! 😄

    Here's what 'the guide" has to say about ego's :

    Extended green objects (EGOs) are small, irregular blobs of green. You may see them near bright stars, but they can also appear more isolated. They are quite rare and they are a special find: in fact, they were first identified in the images from this survey. There is much work being done by researchers to find and understand these objects.

    The thing is, they are very strange and we don't know what they are or what causes them. So finding them in these images is very important and can help in finding out what they are (hopefully ! )

    Happy hunting ! 😄

    Posted

  • Hannah_Ozog by Hannah_Ozog

    Good thing I love a mystery then 😃

    Seeing as they tend to exist near other stars, could it be possible that they're some kind of not-yet-developed star? I'm not 100% sure on what the green colour means (after a quick search I found that it can suggest large amounts of Hydrogen), but in my mind an EGO is a cluster of gaeseous material/dust which points to the formation of something, and I know that Hydrogen is a large contributor to the build-up of stars. Is there any knowledge into whether they're emitting or solely reflecting light?

    Thanks for the help and please tell me if I'm going down the completely wrong route and making a fool of myself 😛

    Posted

  • jules by jules moderator

    Sounds like you're doing just fine! 😃 As for the nature of EGOs - it seems the science team really do find them puzzling. Don't be fooled by the green colour though as that is just the colour chosen to represent the particular wavelength of infrared they emit (more info here).

    And while they can appear near stars there are also some green artifacts that appear near stars (confusing or what?!)

    Happy ego hunting! You never know, we could be helping to discover something new!

    Posted

  • Hannah_Ozog by Hannah_Ozog

    So what's the difference between an ego and a green artifact?

    Posted

  • jules by jules moderator

    Good question - and I don't think it's very clear at times. EGOs are definite gassy/dusty (albeit mysterious!) objects and the artifacts are optical glitches caused by reflections in the telescope or camera. Visually, I suppose EGOs do tend look more extended than the false green blobs sometimes seen very close to bright stars. I've picked a couple of images of what I think are good examples of EGOs to try to show this. It's tricky though and if I'm in any doubt I'll mark something as an EGO and let the science team decide. 😃

    EGOs

    http://talk.milkywayproject.org/#/subjects/AMW0002sgf

    http://talk.milkywayproject.org/#/subjects/AMW0002soo

    ARTIFACTS

    http://talk.milkywayproject.org/#/boards/BMW0000005/discussions/DMW00000xu

    Posted

  • Hannah_Ozog by Hannah_Ozog

    Thanks for the clarification - may have made a few mistakes when classifying, oops 😂

    Posted

  • jules by jules moderator

    Me too! 😕

    Posted

  • DZM by DZM admin

    No worries! It all tends to average out. 😃

    Posted

  • DiNapoli by DiNapoli

    Maybe they are something like "H II regions" In a small setting like "globular clouds". If I'm correct the green color can be explained by the ionisation of hydrogen gasses at the outside of the cloud. Wich means there must be a star(s) inside. But I don't know if all of this Is possible at this scale?

    Posted