McNeil s Nebula
Explanation:
It was a clear, cold
western
Kentucky night on January 23rd as
seasoned amateur astronomer Jay McNeil tried out his recently acquired 3-inch
refracting telescope by
imaging
the area around a familiar object, the
M78 reflection nebula in Orion.
Days later while processing the images, he noted a substantial
but totally unfamiliar nebulosity in the region!
With a little help from his friends,
his
amazing discovery
is now recognized as a newly visible reflection nebula surrounding a
a newborn star --
McNeil's Nebula.
Pictured here at the center of
this
close-up, McNeil's Nebula with
its illuminating
young star at the
tip, do not appear in images of the area before September 2003.
The
emergence
of McNeil's Nebula is a rare event to witness and
astronomers are eagerly following its development, but Orion
will soon lie too close to the Sun in the sky, interrupting
further observations for several months.
The
Orion nebula complex itself is around 1,500 light-years away.
At that distance, the above image spans less than 10 light-years.
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.
