Flaming Star Nebula
Explanation:
A runaway star
lights the Flaming Star Nebula in this cosmic scene.
Otherwise known as IC 405, the Flaming Star Nebula's billowing
interstellar clouds of gas and dust lie about 1,500 light-years
away toward the constellation of Auriga.
AE Aurigae,
the bright star at upper left in the frame, is a
massive and intensely hot O-type star moving rapidly through space,
likely ejected from a collision of multiple star-systems
in the vicinity
of
the Orion Nebula
millions of years ago.
Now close to IC 405, the high-speed star's ionizing ultraviolet
radiation powers the visible reddish glow
as the nebula's hydrogen atoms are stripped of their electrons
and recombine.
Its intense blue starlight is reflected by the nebula's dusty filaments.
Like all massive stars AE Aurigae will be short-lived though, furiously
burning through its supply of fuel for nuclear fusion and
exploding as a supernova.
The colorful
telescopic snapshot
spans about 5 light-years at the estimated
distance of the Flaming Star Nebula.
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.
