12/10/2023 0 Comments Hubble reflection nebula“The origin of this unexplained rift in the heart of NGC 1999 remains unknown. 50K likes, 85 comments - Hubble Space Telescope (nasahubble) on Instagram: Reflection nebulae are clouds of gas and dust that reflect light from nearby. “However, follow-up observations using a collection of telescopes including ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory revealed that the dark patch is actually an empty region of space.” “At the time, astronomers believed that the dark patch in NGC 1999 was something called a Bok globule - a dense, cold cloud of gas, molecules, and cosmic dust that blots out background light.” “This image was created from archival WFPC2 observations that date from shortly after Servicing Mission 3A in 1999,” the researchers explained. This image of NGC 1999 is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) instrument onboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. NGC 2261 (Hubbles Nebula) - Reflection Nebula in Monoceros Photometric information of NGC 2261 Apparent size of NGC 2261 Digitized Sky Survey image of NGC. “The most notable aspect of NGC 1999’s appearance, however, is the conspicuous hole in its center, which resembles an inky-black keyhole of cosmic proportions.” “In the case of NGC 1999, this source is the aforementioned newborn star V380 Orionis which is visible at the center of this image.” “Just like fog curling around a street lamp, reflection nebulae like NGC 1999 only shine because of the light from an embedded source.” “NGC 1999 itself is a relic of recent star formation - it is composed of detritus left over from the formation of a newborn star,” Hubble astronomers said. NGC 1999 lies near to the Orion Nebula, the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. Otherwise known as Ced 55i, DG 60 or LBN 979, the object has a diameter of 0.6 light-years. The nebula was discovered on Octoby the German-born British astronomer William Herschel. Eventually, the protostar may gravitationally gather enough matter to begin nuclear fusion and emit its own energy and starlight. NGC 1999 is located approximately 1,350 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Orion. Reflections of Starlight This Hubble Space Telescope image captures a portion of the reflection nebula IC 2631, which contains a protostar, the hot, dense core of a forming star that is accumulating gas and dust. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / ESO / K. The image also contains data from the OmegaCAM instrument on ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope. This Hubble image shows NGC 1999, a reflection nebula some 1,350 light-years away in the constellation of Orion.
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