What do witch’s heads, ghosts, cat’s eyes, and pumpkins have
in common? Well, besides being a staple of the holiday season, they can also be
found among the stars! How is this possible, you may be asking? The answer is
nebulae!
A nebula is a massive cloud of dust
and gas floating in the void in space. Many of these clouds of gas are a result
of a star shedding its outer layers as it dies. Many of these nebulae have been
known for quite some time, but with our modern instruments we can peer even
further into the void.
Naturally, we are wired to see
patterns amongst random chaos. As such, many nebulae have secondary names
alluding to what they are shaped like. As such, the witch’s head nebula (IC2118)
resembles a cackling crone, the ghost nebula (sh2-136) a spirit, and the cat’s
eye nebula (NGC 6543) … well, you get the idea. Just recently, NASA has
discovered a new member of this cosmic nebula. While it still doesn’t have an
official name, this cloud of dust has earned the moniker ‘the jack-o-lantern
nebula’ for the time being. Many astronomers have suggested the nebula is a
result of a type-O star in its death throes.
Do these
nebulae really look like what people say they do? See for yourself!
(Images courtesy Wikimedia commons)
Ghost Nebula
Witch Head Nebula
Jack-O'-Lantern Nebula
This is a very cool post! Nebulae sure are beautiful. My favorite is the witch head nebula, you can really see the warty nose. Do you have a picture of the cat’s eye nebula?
ReplyDeleteGood quick introduction to nebulae, snuck some really good details in there!
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