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Diffuse nebulae can be divided into emission nebulae, reflection nebulae and dark nebulae. Visible light nebulae may be divided into emission nebulae, which emit spectral line radiation from excited or ionized gas (mostly ionized hydrogen ); [ 25 ] they are often called H II regions , H II referring to ionized hydrogen), and reflection nebulae ...
The closest and largest dark nebulae are visible to the naked eye, since they are the least obscured by stars in between Earth and the nebula, and because they have the largest angular size, appearing as dark patches against the brighter background of the Milky Way like the Coalsack Nebula and the Great Rift.
NGC 1535, also known as Cleopatra's Eye, [3] is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Eridanus, discovered by William Herschel on February 1, 1785. [4] It is very similar to the Eskimo Nebula in both color and structure but the central star can be quite difficult to observe visually. [ 5 ]
The nebula measures around two light years long from end to end, and contains a central white dwarf with an apparent magnitude of 11. The inner layers of the nebula were formed some 1,500 years ago. [4] The two ends of the nebula are marked by FLIERs, lobes of fast moving gas often tinted red in false-color pictures. [5]
The Trifid Nebula was the subject of an investigation by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope in 1997, using filters that isolate emission from hydrogen atoms, ionized sulfur atoms, and doubly ionized oxygen atoms. The images were combined into a false-color composite picture to suggest how the nebula might look to the eye.
The Lagoon Nebula was discovered by Giovanni Hodierna before 1654 [5] and is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the eye from mid-northern latitudes. Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct cloud-like patch with a definite core. Within the nebula is the open cluster NGC 6530. [6]
The Cat's Eye Nebula (also known as NGC 6543 and Caldwell 6) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Draco, discovered by William Herschel on February 15, 1786. It was the first planetary nebula whose spectrum was investigated by the English amateur astronomer William Huggins , demonstrating that planetary nebulae were gaseous ...
Planetary nebulae, represented here by the Ring Nebula, are examples of emission nebulae. An emission nebula is a nebula formed of ionized gases that emit light of various wavelengths. The most common source of ionization is high-energy ultraviolet photons emitted from a nearby hot star .