Teacher Finds New Cosmic Object!!!!!!!

by **J The Kidd** Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:37 am

It's called Hanny's Voorwerp, after its discoverer Hanny Van Arkel
and the Dutch word for object. Van Arkel noticed the green blob while
using the Web site Galaxy Zoo, where volunteers pour over images of
galaxies and other cosmic objects and help scientists categorize them.

Scientists believe that the Voorwerp was lit up by a powerful quasar (a
massive black hole that blasts light and radio waves into space) that
has since gone dark, leaving behind the light echo that keeps the gas
cloud glowing (a result of the light having to travel insanely long
distances to the Voorwerp).

The object had been categorized before, but its significance was only
noticed when the 25-year-old amateur astronomer Van Arkel realized that
it did not match any of the known galaxy types in the Galaxy Zoo
catalog. Hanny's Voorwerp is the only object of its type ever
discovered. Scientists are planning more in-depth analysis with the
Isaac Newton Group of telescopes in La Palma, Spain.