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Credit & Copyright: Roberto Colombari
Explanation:
Stars are forming in the Soul of the Queen of Aethopia.
More specifically, a large star forming region called the
Soul Nebula can be found in
the direction of the
constellation Cassiopeia, who Greek mythology credits as the
vain wife
of a King who long ago ruled
lands
surrounding the
upper Nile river.
The Soul Nebula
houses several
open clusters of stars,
a large radio source known as
W5,
and huge evacuated bubbles formed by the winds of young massive stars.
Located about 6,500 light years away, the Soul Nebula spans about 100 light years
and is usually
imaged next to its celestial neighbor the
Heart Nebula (IC 1805).
The
featured image appears mostly red
due to the emission of a
specific color of light
emitted by
excited hydrogen gas.
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A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day