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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Звезды, пыль и газ около Антареса http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1806265/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Mario Cogo
(Galax Lux)
Explanation:
Why is the sky near
Antares and
Rho Ophiuchi so dusty yet colorful?
The colors result from a mixture of objects and processes.
Fine dust -- illuminated from the front by starlight -- produces blue
reflection nebulae.
Gaseous clouds whose atoms are excited by
ultraviolet
starlight produce reddish emission nebulae.
Backlit dust clouds block starlight and so
appear dark.
Antares,
a red supergiant and one of the
brighter stars in the night sky,
lights up the yellow-red clouds on the lower right of the
featured image.
The Rho Ophiuchi
star system lies at the center of the blue
reflection nebula
on the top left.
The distant globular cluster of stars
M4 is visible above and to the right of Antares.
These star clouds are even more
colorful than
humans can see,
emitting light across the electromagnetic spectrum.
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.