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Credit & Copyright: Alex Woronow
Explanation:
Why does the nebula around the star WR-18 shine brighter on one side?
Also known as
NGC 3199,
this active star and its surrounding nebula lie about 12,000
light-years away toward the nautical southern constellation
of Carina.
The featured deep image has been highly processed to bring out filamentary details
of the glowing gas in the bubble-shaped nebula.
The nebula is about 75 light-years across.
Near the nebula's center is a
Wolf-Rayet
star, WR-18, which is
a massive, hot, short-lived star that generates an intense and complex stellar wind.
In fact, Wolf-Rayet stars
are known to create nebulas
with interesting shapes
as their powerful winds sweep up surrounding
interstellar
material.
In this case, the bright right edge was initially
thought to indicate that a
bow shock was being
produced as the star plowed through a uniform medium, like a
boat through water.
Recent measurements and analyses, however, have shown the star is
not
moving quickly toward the bright edge.
A more likely explanation has
emerged that the
material surrounding the star is not uniform, but
clumped and denser near the bright edge.
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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: Wolf-Rayet star
Publications with words: Wolf-Rayet star
See also:
- APOD: 2025 February 3 Á Wolf Rayet Star 124: Stellar Wind Machine
- APOD: 2025 January 29 Á Dust Shells around WR 140 from Webb
- Sharpless 308: The Dolphin Head Nebula
- APOD: 2024 January 9 Á Thors Helmet
- APOD: 2023 March 29 Á Sh2-308: A Dolphin Shaped Star Bubble
- Wolf Rayet 124
- APOD: 2023 February 8 Á Stellar Wind Shaped Nebula RCW 58