Doradus Nebula
22nd February 2012
Reblogged From florestanlieder
Notes: 3275
Submitted by iaydl
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A glowing ring in the blackest night
This glowing emerald nebula seen in infrared by the Spitzer Space Telescope has been sculpted by the powerful light of giant “O” stars, the most massive type of star known to exist. Named RCW 120, this region can be found in the murky clouds encircled by the tail of the constellation Scorpius.
At the center of this ring are a couple of giant stars whose intense ultraviolet light has carved out the bubble. These bubbles are common and can be found around O stars throughout our Milky Way galaxy. The small objects at the lower right area of the image may themselves be similar regions seen at much greater distances across the galaxy.
RCW 120 can be found slightly above the flat plane of our galaxy, located toward the bottom of the picture. The green haze seen here is the diffuse glow of dust from the galactic plane.
beautiful
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Born from clouds of gas and dust, stars like our Sun spend most of their lifetime slowly burning their primary nuclear fuel, hydrogen, into the heavier element helium. After leading this bright and shiny life for several billion years, their fuel is almost exhausted and they start swelling, pushing the outer layers away from what has turned into a small and very hot core. These “middle-aged” stars become enormous, hence cool and red — red giants. All red giants exhibit a slow oscillation in brightness due their rhythmic “breathing” in and out, and one third of them are also affected by additional, slower and mysterious changes in their luminosity. After this rapid and tumultuous phase of their later life, these stars do not end in dramatic explosions, but die peacefully as planetary nebulae, blowing out everything but a tiny remnant, known as white dwarf.
“Magnificent Milky Way and Radiant Stars”
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