The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System. The descriptive "milky" is derived from the appearance from Earth of the galaxy – a band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. The term Milky Way is a translation of the Latin via lactea, from the Greek γαλαξίας...
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IC 2118 (also known as Witch Head Nebula due to its shape) is an extremely faint reflection nebula believed to be an ancient supernova remnant or gas cloud illuminated by nearby supergiant star Rigel in Orion. It lies in the Eridanus constellation, about 900 light years from Earth. The nature of the dust particles, reflecting blue light...
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The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus. It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop (radio source W78, or Sharpless 103), a large but relatively faint supernova remnant. The source supernova exploded circa 3,000 BC to 6,000 BC. At the time, the expanding cloud was likely as bright...
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Christmas tree is actually a nickname for NGC 2264 that officially identifies two astronomical objects: The Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster. Unofficially other objects within this designation are: The Snowflake Cluster and the Fox Fur Nebula. No doubt something including a form of cone, Christmas and snowflakes is called a Christmas...
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NGC 281, IC 11 or Sh2-184 is a bright emission nebula and part of an H II region in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia and is part of the Milky Way's Perseus Spiral Arm. This 30 arcmin sized nebulosity is also associated with open cluster IC 1590, several Bok globules and the multiple star. It collectively forms Sh2-184, spanning over a...
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Cassiopeia is the constellation where the "heart and soul" of our galaxy can be found. Nebulae IC 1802 and IC 1848 are relatively nicknamed Heart and Soul after their heart and embryo-like shapes. Spanned over 300 light-years, it takes about 6000 years for photons from these bright emission nebulae to reach the Earth. Their bright red light is...
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This cosmic flowery nebula is called Rosette after the red roses you are able to find in your backyard during spring. Inside the nebula lies an open cluster of young stars designated NGC 2244. They formed about 4 million years ago from the nebular material and their stellar winds are drilling a hole in nebula's center, all of it insulated by...
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The Rosette Nebula is not the only cosmic cloud of gas and dust to evoke the imagery of flowers - but it is the most famous. At the edge of a large molecular cloud in Monoceros, some 5,000 light years away, the petals of this rose are actually a stellar nursery whose lovely, symmetric shape is sculpted by the winds and radiation from its...
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In this crowded starfield covering over 2 degrees within the high flying constellation Cygnus, the eye is drawn to the Cocoon Nebula. A compact star forming region, the cosmic Cocoon punctuates a long trail of obscuring interstellar dust clouds. Cataloged as IC 5146, the nebula is nearly 15 light-years wide, located some 4,000 light years...
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The Orion Nebula (M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula in the south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of about 1,344 light years and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is...
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The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System. The descriptive "milky" is derived...
IC 2118 (also known as Witch Head Nebula due to its shape) is an extremely faint reflection...
The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus. It...
Christmas tree is actually a nickname for NGC 2264 that officially identifies two astronomical...
NGC 281, IC 11 or Sh2-184 is a bright emission nebula and part of an H II region in the...
Cassiopeia is the constellation where the "heart and soul" of our galaxy can be found. Nebulae...
This cosmic flowery nebula is called Rosette after the red roses you are able to find in your...
The Rosette Nebula is not the only cosmic cloud of gas and dust to evoke the imagery of flowers...
In this crowded starfield covering over 2 degrees within the high flying constellation Cygnus,...
The Orion Nebula (M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula in the south of Orion's Belt in the...
