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Credit & Copyright: Hubble,
NASA,
ESA;
Data: Mark Clampin
(NASA's GSFC);
Processing &
License:
Judy Schmidt
Explanation:
What causes Hubble's Variable Nebula to vary?
The unusual nebula featured here changes its appearance noticeably in just a few weeks.
Discovered over 200 years ago and subsequently
cataloged as NGC 2661,
the remarkable nebula is named for
Edwin Hubble, who
studied it
early last century.
Fitting, perhaps, the
featured image was taken by another namesake of Hubble: the
Space Telescope.
Hubble's Variable Nebula is
a
reflection nebula
made of gas and fine
dust fanning out from the star
R Monocerotis.
The faint nebula is about one
light-year across and lies about 2500 light-years away towards the
constellation of the
Unicorn
(Monocerotis).
The leading
variability explanation for
Hubble's Variable Nebula holds that dense knots
of opaque dust pass close to
R Mon and cast
moving shadows onto the reflecting dust seen in the rest
of
the nebula.
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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: reflection nebula
Publications with words: reflection nebula
See also:
- APOD: 2026 April 7 Á IC 4592: The Blue Horsehead Reflection Nebula
- APOD: 2026 February 2 Á Orion: The Running Man Nebula
- NGC 1333: Stellar Nursery in Perseus
- APOD: 2026 January 28 Á M78: Reflecting Blue in a Sea of Red
- NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula
- APOD: 2025 September 19 Á The NGC 6914 Complex
- Reflections on VdB 31