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Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh &
Rick Stevenson
Explanation:
Fantastic shapes
lurk in clouds of glowing gas in the giant star forming region NGC 6188.
The emission nebula is found about 4,000
light years away near the edge of a
large molecular cloud unseen at visible wavelengths, in the southern
constellation
Ara.
Massive, young
stars of the embedded Ara
OB1
association
were formed in that region only a few million years ago,
sculpting the dark shapes and
powering the nebular glow with stellar winds and intense
ultraviolet
radiation.
The recent
star
formation itself was likely triggered by
winds and supernova explosions, from previous generations of massive
stars,
that swept up and compressed the molecular gas.
Joining NGC 6188 on this cosmic canvas, visible toward the lower right,
is rare emission nebula NGC 6164,
also created by one of the region's massive
O-type stars.
Similar in appearance to many
planetary nebulae, NGC 6164's striking,
symmetric gaseous shroud and faint
halo surround its bright central star near the bottom edge.
The impressively
wide field of view
spans over 3 degrees (six full Moons), corresponding to
over 200 light years at the estimated distance
of NGC 6188.
Three image sets have been included in
the featured composite.
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Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: stars
Publications with words: stars
See also: