It is so named because it has a bright spot at several wavelengths of infrared light. At the center of the light image is the engine nebula, a low-mass star blocked by a dark vertical band. (Read also; Can the Great Wall of China be seen from space? This is the answer of scientists )
The detail in this image was captured by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrographs (GMOS) telescope, or the Gemini South Telescope, located above Cerro Pachón, in the Andes mountains in Chile. The Gemini South Telescope, is part of the international Gemini Observatory, NSF’s NOIRLab Program. The GMOS has both imaging and spectrograph capabilities, making it a versatile instrument.
“GMOS-South is the perfect instrument to make these observations, due to its field of view, which can capture the entire nebula very well. In addition, its ability to capture emissions from the nebula’s ionized gases,” said NOIRLab instrument scientist German Gimenod as quoted by phys.org, Wednesday (8/12/2021). (Read also; NASA Recruits Elon Musk’s Men for Missions to Space and the Moon )
The Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula lies within the darker cloud of the larger Chamaeleon I, which neighbors the dark clouds of Chamaeleon II and Chamaeleon III. These three dark clouds collectively make up the Chamaeleon Complex, a large area of star formation that occupies nearly the entire constellation Chamaeleon in the southern sky.
Although hidden from view, this icy young star emits a fast-moving stream of gas that has carved a tunnel through the interstellar cloud where it is forming. Infrared light and light emitted by the star, escapes along this tunnel and scatters from its walls, giving rise to a thin reflecting nebula.
The bright red object to the right of the center of the image marks where several streams of fast-moving gas flare up after colliding with slower-moving gas in the nebula. This is known as the Herbig-Haro object (HH) and has the designation HH 909A. Other Herbig-Haro objects have been found along the stellar outflow axis beyond the image edges to the right and left.
Astronomers explain that the dark band at the center of the Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula is a circumstellar disk — a reservoir of gas and dust orbiting the star. Star disks are usually associated with young stars and provide the materials needed to build planets.
Astronomers believe that the nebula’s central star is a young stellar object embedded in the disk. The background nebulosity, shown in blue in this image, reflects light from a nearby star that lies outside the frame.
(wib)
– .
