Controversial Image from SkyAlert Hints at Multiple Santas in the Early Universe
Written by Nancy Atkinson
Santa pictures made by Sarah Emery Bunn, Matthew Graham, and Roy Williams Image credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Normally, SkyAlert collects and distributes reports of astronomical transients in near-real time, such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, cataclysmic variables and blazar eruptions. You can even get alerts of these events via Twitter or Facebook. But starting this morning, Dec 24, through Dec 25, Skyalert.org will be distributing Santa Sighting Events via Twitter and Facebook so you can track where in the universe Santa will be. SkyAlert also has some interesting images of where Santa has been — there's evidence of Santa on the Moon; he may have been flying through the Coalsack Nebula (see below) and that even in the early Universe there may have been multiple Santas.
Image credit: Don Pettit, ISS Expedition 6, NASA Santa pictures made by Sarah Emery Bunn, Matthew Graham, and Roy Williams
The Santa stream will be broadcast live on Twitter at http://twitter.com/skyalert with the tag #SantaAlert. You can also go to the SkyAlert website's special Santa tracking page, or Facebook.
The sky is full of explosions and movement, and SkyAlert is a great way to follow all the transient events taking place. The folks at SkyAlert say the discovery rate of such transients is increasing rapidly as new surveys come online. Visit SkyAlert for more information. And enjoy the holidays!
Filed under: Astronomy
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December 24th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Looks like some gravitationally lensed Kris Kringles in that top pic. They do seem to all have the same "red"shift.
December 24th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
These multiple sightings, could it be observational evidence of the Many Worlds Interpretation?
December 24th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
And 75% of Santas are hypothezized to be so-called "Dark Santas," thought these cannot be proven scientifically.
December 25th, 2009 at 2:11 am
It is great that scientists can still produce great offbeat images.
It shows we are not dead yet!
December 25th, 2009 at 10:27 am
If some of these early-universe multiple Santas still exist, maybe it serves to explain the logisitical dilemma behind delivering so many presents in such a short amount of time