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Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson
Explanation:
This cosmic close-up looks deep inside the
Soul Nebula.
The dark and brooding
dust clouds on the left, 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 of IC 1871 are themselves
sculpted by the intense winds and radiation of the region's
massive young stars.
The
featured image
appears mostly red due to the emission of a
specific color of light emitted
by
excited hydrogen gas.
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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 - star formation
Publications with words: emission nebula - star formation
See also: