Two Hubble reviews of one star nursery

Two Hubble reviews of one star nursery

Before you are two pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope, which compares the views of the center of a huge starfish breeding ground - the Lagoon Nebula.

A bright image in visible light on the left shows an amazing landscape of ridges, lowlands and mountains of gas and dust. This dusty-gas landscape is created by powerful UV rays and hurricane stellar winds released by the young monster star. In the center is the star Herschel 36, which is brighter than the sun by 200,000 times. In addition, it is 32 times more massive and 40,000 times hotter than the stars of our system. And this object is still active due to its youth (1 million years).

Flare and powerful winds push out dust. When a star throws out its cocoon, it suppresses the star birth in the surrounding territories. However, in dark areas, stars continue to form in dense gas and dust clouds.

The Laguna Nebula, 4,000 light-years away from us. Here is a plot with a length of 4 light years.

The star-filled image on the right is made in near-infrared light. This method of shooting allows you to penetrate the giant dust and gas clouds and view the precious objects hidden behind this wall.

The most obvious difference is the abundance of stars. Most of them are distant and background, that is, they are farther than the nebula itself. However, some young objects belong to the Lagoon Nebula. For example, closer to the center is the star Herschel 36.

Dark spots are Boca globules. These are the densest parts of the nebula, where dust surrounds fixed stars and their planets. Hubble is not able to penetrate them, but it is within the power of the future telescope of James Webb.

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