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Credit & Copyright: Rowan Prangley
Explanation:
How did a star form this beautiful nebula?
In the middle of
emission nebula NGC 6164 is an
unusually massive star.
The central star has been compared to an
oyster's
pearl and an
egg
protected
by the mythical sky
dragons of Ara.
The star, visible in the center of the
featured image
and catalogued as
HD 148937, is so hot that the
ultraviolet light it emits heats up gas that surrounds it.
That gas was likely thrown off from the star previously,
possibly the result of a
gravitational interaction with a looping stellar companion.
Expelled material might have been channeled by the
magnetic field of the massive star, in all creating the symmetric
shape of the bipolar nebula.
NGC 6164 spans about four
light years
and is located about 3,600 light years away
toward the southern constellation
Norma.
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A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: emission nebula
Publications with words: emission nebula
See also: