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10-25-2018, 12:43 PM
Baby stars blow bubbles in Cat’s Paw Nebula
EarthSky in SPACE | October 25, 2018
In the star-forming Cat’s Paw Nebula, baby stars heat up the gas surrounding them. The gas then expands to form bubbles in the nebula.
http://en.es-static.us/upl/2018/10/bubbles-cats-paw-nebula-pia22566-16-e1540396016756.jpg
The Cat’s Paw Nebula is a star-forming region within our Milky Way galaxy. It’s located some 4,200 to 5,500 light-years away, in
the direction of what we see as the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. Image via NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope/JPL-Caltech.
Do you see the cat’s paw in the image above? The region is called the Cat’s Paw Nebula for the large, round features that create an impression of a cat’s footprint. NASA released this image of the nebula on October 23, 2018. It’s pulled from data collected for the Galactic Legacy Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire project (aka GLIMPSE).
The nebula is a place where new stars are forming in our Milky Way. NASA wrote:
Framed by green clouds, the bright red bubbles are the dominant feature in the image, which was created using data from two of Spitzer’s instruments [the MIPS and IRAC instruments]. After gas and dust inside the nebula collapse to form stars, the stars may in turn heat up the pressurized gas surrounding them, causing it to expand into space and create bubbles.
The green areas show places where radiation from hot stars collided with large molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, causing them to fluoresce. In some cases, NASA said, the bubbles might eventually “burst,” creating the U-shaped features that are particularly visible in the image below, created using data from just one of Spitzer’s instruments.
http://en.es-static.us/upl/2018/10/bubbles-cats-paw-nebula-e1540396229420.jpg
Here is the Cat’s Paw Nebula again, imaged by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. The dark filament running through the middle
of the nebula is a particularly dense region of gas and dust. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech.
EarthSky in SPACE | October 25, 2018
In the star-forming Cat’s Paw Nebula, baby stars heat up the gas surrounding them. The gas then expands to form bubbles in the nebula.
http://en.es-static.us/upl/2018/10/bubbles-cats-paw-nebula-pia22566-16-e1540396016756.jpg
The Cat’s Paw Nebula is a star-forming region within our Milky Way galaxy. It’s located some 4,200 to 5,500 light-years away, in
the direction of what we see as the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. Image via NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope/JPL-Caltech.
Do you see the cat’s paw in the image above? The region is called the Cat’s Paw Nebula for the large, round features that create an impression of a cat’s footprint. NASA released this image of the nebula on October 23, 2018. It’s pulled from data collected for the Galactic Legacy Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire project (aka GLIMPSE).
The nebula is a place where new stars are forming in our Milky Way. NASA wrote:
Framed by green clouds, the bright red bubbles are the dominant feature in the image, which was created using data from two of Spitzer’s instruments [the MIPS and IRAC instruments]. After gas and dust inside the nebula collapse to form stars, the stars may in turn heat up the pressurized gas surrounding them, causing it to expand into space and create bubbles.
The green areas show places where radiation from hot stars collided with large molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, causing them to fluoresce. In some cases, NASA said, the bubbles might eventually “burst,” creating the U-shaped features that are particularly visible in the image below, created using data from just one of Spitzer’s instruments.
http://en.es-static.us/upl/2018/10/bubbles-cats-paw-nebula-e1540396229420.jpg
Here is the Cat’s Paw Nebula again, imaged by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. The dark filament running through the middle
of the nebula is a particularly dense region of gas and dust. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech.