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Credit & Copyright: Sara Wager
Explanation:
This
cosmic close-up looks deep inside the Soul Nebula.
The dark and brooding dust clouds outlined by bright
ridges of glowing gas are cataloged as IC 1871.
About 25 light-years across,
the telescopic field of view spans only
a small part of the much larger
Heart and Soul nebulae.
At an estimated distance of 6,500 light-years the star-forming
complex lies within the Perseus spiral arm
of the Milky Way, seen in planet
Earth's skies toward the constellation Cassiopeia.
An example of
triggered star formation,
the dense star-forming clouds of IC 1871 are themselves
sculpted by the intense winds and radiation of the region's
massive young stars.
This color image adopts a
palette made popular in Hubble images
of star-forming regions.
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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: emission nebula - star formation
Publications with words: emission nebula - star formation
See also: