Credit & Copyright: Jason Guenzel
Explanation:
This cosmic close-up looks deep inside the
Soul Nebula.
The dark and brooding
dust clouds near the top,
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 our
Milky Way Galaxy, seen in planet
Earth's skies toward the constellation Cassiopeia.
An example of
triggered star formation,
the dense star-forming clouds in the
Soul Nebula are themselves
sculpted by the intense winds and radiation of the region's
massive young stars.
In the
featured image,
stars have been digitally removed to highlight
the commotion in the gas and dust.
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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: