SPACE — If you often read news about space, you are definitely familiar with the Nebula. Nebulae are often known as places of star formation.
Reporting from Space.com, Nebula comes from Latin meaning “cloud”. But in an astronomical context, a nebula refers to any celestial body that appears like a cloud when viewed through a telescope.
When telescopes were not as powerful as they are now, the term Nebula also included galaxies. For example, in the past the Andromeda galaxy, the galaxy closest to Earth, was often referred to as the “Andromeda nebula”.
However, using modern telescopes, we know that galaxies are not cloud-like at all. Galaxies consist of billions of stars.
This means astronomers now use the word nebula for the original cloud of gas and dust located within our galaxy.
Nebulae are often found in interstellar space, known as the interstellar medium. On average, this region contains only about one atom per cubic centimeter.
However, in certain places the density can be much higher than this. Sometimes the density is high enough that it can be seen through a telescope. That’s the nebula.
Nebulae are one of the most spectacular sights in astronomy. In fact, many of the Hubble telescope’s most iconic images, such as the “Pillars of Creation,” are images of nebulae.
View of the Tarantula Nebula from the Hubble Space Telescope. Image: ESA/Hubble and NASA.
Types of nebula
There are several types of nebulae, depending on how they are formed and their composition. Most nebulae are made of gas, which is capable of shining with its own light, creating the colorful displays we are familiar with.
However, there are other types of nebulae such as “dark nebulae” which are much dustier in composition. Instead of shining, this dust blocks light from objects further away.
There is also a type of emission nebula. This nebula is formed from gas that is hot enough to glow with its own light at various wavelengths.
What is the connection between nebulae and stars?
Nebulae play an important role in the life cycle of stars, both at birth and at death. Stars form in dense clumps of gas, dust, and other material within emission nebulae. Emission nebulae are often called “stellar nurseries”. The Pillars of Creation Nebula falls into this category. Likewise the Orion Nebula.
2023-11-26 23:15:00
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