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Nebulae are star-forming regions that have some of the most peculiar shapes, with some of the most fascinating examples being the Headphone Nebula, the Heart and Soul Nebula, and the Flying Ghost Nebula. These star nurseries are located in Interstellar space, which is the space between stars, and consist of gases, mainly hydrogen, and helium. Although most nebulae belong to just three types – spherical, elliptical, and bipolar, some of them might be irregularly shaped, so much so that they resemble objects on Earth. According to NASA, a Nebula can contain as few as ten stars or as many as millions of stars.
Today’s NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day is a fascinating snapshot of LDN1235, also known as the Shark Nebula, which is located about 650 light-years away towards the constellation of Cepheus in the Northern sky. This nebula is made of interstellar dust which hides most of the light behind it. According to NASA, such celestial objects are so dense that the dust within blocks visible wavelengths of light. Telescopes that see visible light only detect ghostly dark patches in the sky, called Dark Nebulae.
This awesome snapshot was captured by astrophotographer Stephen Kennedy in Strawn, Texas, in May 2023.
NASA’s description of the picture
There is no sea on Earth large enough to contain the Shark nebula. This predator apparition poses no danger as it is composed only of interstellar gas and dust. Dark dust like that featured here is somewhat like cigarette smoke and created in the cool atmospheres of giant stars. After being expelled with gas and gravitationally recondensing, massive stars may carve intricate structures into their birth cloud using their high energy light and fast stellar winds as sculpting tools. The heat they generate evaporates the murky molecular cloud as well as causing ambient hydrogen gas to disperse and glow red.
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