Twistin By The Lagoon
Explanation:
The awesome spectacle of starbirth produces extreme stellar
winds and
intense energetic starlight -- bombarding dusty molecular clouds
inside the Lagoon Nebula
(
M8).
At least
two long funnel shaped clouds, each roughly half a light-year
long, have apparently been formed by this activity.
They extend from the upper left of this
close-up of the bright area of the Lagoon known as
'the Hour Glass'.
Are these interstellar funnel clouds actually
swirling, twisting analogs to
Earthly tornados? It's possible.
As energy from nearby young hot stars, like the one at lower right,
pours into the cool dust and gas,
large temperature differences in adjoining regions can be
created generating
shearing winds.
This picture is a reprocessed HST image
made in 1995 as researchers explored this nearby
(5,000 light-year distant) star forming region
which lies in the direction
of Sagittarius.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
