Astronomy Picture of the Day
Posted By admin On February 23, 2011 @ 9:56 pm In Photo Essays | Comments Disabled
[1]
NGC 281: The Pacman Nebula
Credit & Copyright [2]: Steve Cannistra (StarryWonders [3])
Explanation: NGC 281 is a busy workshop of star formation. Prominent features include a small open cluster [4] of stars, a diffuse red-glowing emission nebula [5], large lanes of obscuring gas [6] and dust [7], and dense knots of dust and gas in which stars may still be forming. The open cluster [8] of stars IC 1590 visible around the center has formed only in the last few million years. The brightest member of this cluster is actually a multiple-star system [9] shining light that helps ionize the nebula’s gas, causing the red glow visible throughout. The lanes of dust [10] visible left of center are likely homes of future star formation [11]. Particularly striking in the above photograph [12] are the dark Bok globules [13] visible against the bright nebula. The NGC 281 [14] system, dubbed the Pacman nebula [15] for its overall shape, lies about 10 thousand light years [16] distant.
Visit the NASA/JPL website to view more Astronomy Pictures of the Day [17]
Article printed from Recorder Online: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com
URL to article: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/2011/02/23/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-19/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/pacman_cannistra.jpg
[2] Copyright: http://www.starrywonders.com/copyright.html
[3] StarryWonders: http://www.starrywonders.com/
[4] open cluster: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010909.html
[5] emission nebula: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html
[6] gas: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#hydrogen
[7] dust: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html
[8] open cluster: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/open_clusters.html
[9] multiple-star system: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap970219.html
[10] dust: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap980121.html
[11] star formation: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031026.html
[12] above photograph: http://www.starrywonders.com/pacman.html
[13] Bok globules: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030127.html
[14] NGC 281: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1996AAS...188.4206G
[15] Pacman nebula: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac_man
[16] light years: http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html
[17] Astronomy Pictures of the Day: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/
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