Astronomy Picture of the Day
    


NGC 6188: The Dragons of Ara
<< Yesterday 7.11.2018 Tomorrow >>
NGC 6188: The Dragons of Ara
Credit & Copyright: Tian Lee
Explanation: Dark shapes with bright edges winging their way through dusty NGC 6188 are tens of light-years long. The emission nebula is found near the edge of an otherwise dark large molecular cloud in the southern constellation Ara, about 4,000 light-years away. Born in that region only a few million years ago, the massive young stars of the embedded Ara OB1 association sculpt the fantastic shapes and power the nebular glow with stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation. The recent star formation itself was likely triggered by winds and supernova explosions, from previous generations of massive stars, that swept up and compressed the molecular gas. With image data from the Chilescope Observatory, a false-color Hubble palette was used to create this gorgeous wide-field image and shows emission from sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms in red, green, and blue hues. The field of view spans about four full Moons, corresponding to about 150 light years at the estimated distance of NGC 6188.

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
 < November 2018  >
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su



1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930

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.

Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day

Publications with keywords: emission nebula - molecular cloud - OB association
Publications with words: emission nebula - molecular cloud - OB association
See also:
All publications on this topic >>