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Credit & Copyright: Royal Observatory, Edinburgh,
Anglo-Australian Observatory
Explanation:
The many spectacular colors of the
Rho Ophiuchi
(oh'-fee-yu-kee) clouds
highlight the many processes that occur there. The
blue regions shine
primarily by reflected light. Blue light from the star rho Ophiuchi and
nearby stars reflects more
efficiently off this portion of the nebula than red light. The Earth's
daytime sky appears blue for the same reason. The
red and yellow regions
shine primarily because of emission of the
nebula's atomic
and molecular gas.
Light from nearby stars - particularly the bright star
Antares in this case - knocks
electrons
away from the gas, which
then shines when the electrons recombine with the
gas. The dark regions
are caused by
dust grains -
born in young stellar atmospheres - which effectively block light emitted
behind them. The
Rho
Ophiuchi star clouds, well in front of the globular cluster M4
visible on far lower left,
are even more colorful than humans can see - the clouds emits
light in every wavelength band from the radio to the gamma-ray.
Information:
The
Scale of the Universe Debate in April 1996
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: clouds
Publications with words: clouds
See also:
- APOD: 2024 November 19 Á Undulatus Clouds over Las Campanas Observatory
- APOD: 2024 July 7 Á Iridescent Clouds over Sweden
- APOD: 2023 August 20 Á A Roll Cloud Over Wisconsin
- APOD: 2023 February 12 Á Mammatus Clouds over Nebraska
- Nacreous Clouds over Lapland
- A Retreating Thunderstorm at Sunset
- A Fire Rainbow over West Virginia