{"id":11301,"date":"2015-09-02T07:00:32","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=11301"},"modified":"2015-09-01T14:02:13","modified_gmt":"2015-09-01T18:02:13","slug":"eso-new-image-of-prawn-nebula-depicts-cosmic-recycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=11301","title":{"rendered":"ESO: New image of Prawn Nebula depicts “Cosmic Recycling”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest\u00a0ESO<\/a>\u00a0(European Southern Observatory) report:<\/p>\n

Cosmic Recycling<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dominating this image is part of the gigantic nebula Gum 56, illuminated by the hot bright young stars that were born within it. For millions of years stars have been created out of the gas in this nebula, material which is later returned to the stellar nursery when the aging stars either expel their material gently into space or eject it more dramatically as supernova explosions. This image was taken with the MPG\/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile as part of ESO\u2019s Cosmic Gems programme.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The rich patchwork of gas clouds in this new image make up part of a huge stellar nursery nicknamed the Prawn Nebula (also known as Gum 56 and IC 4628). Taken using the MPG\/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, this may well be one of the best pictures ever taken of this object. It shows clumps of hot new-born stars nestled in among the clouds that make up the nebula.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Deeply immersed in this huge stellar nursery are three clusters of hot young stars \u2014 only a few million years old \u2014 which glow brightly in ultraviolet light<\/a>. It is the light from these stars that causes the nebula\u2019s gas clouds to glow. The radiation strips electrons from atoms \u2014 a process known as ionisation<\/a> \u2014 and when they recombine they release energy in the form of light. Each chemical element emits light in characteristic colours and the large clouds of hydrogen in the nebula are the cause of its rich red glow.<\/p>\n

Gum 56 \u2014 also known as IC 4628 or by its nickname, the Prawn Nebula<\/a> \u2014 is named after the Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum<\/a>, who, in 1955, published a catalogue of H II regions<\/a>. H II regions such as Gum 56 are huge, low density clouds containing a large amount of ionised hydrogen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/cdn.eso.org\/videos\/medium_podcast\/eso1535a.m4v<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

This video sequence starts with a view of the rich central parts of the Milky Way and then closes in on a spectacular region of star formation known as the Prawn Nebula (also known as Gum 56 and IC 4628) in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion). The final close up view is a very sharp image taken using the MPG\/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO\u2019s La Silla Observatory in Chile.\u00a0Credit:\u00a0ESO\/Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org<\/a>).\u00a0Music: Johan B Monell<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

A large portion of the ionisation in Gum 56 is done by two O-type stars<\/a>, which are hot blue\u2013white stars, also known as blue giants because of their colour [1]<\/a>. This type of star is rare in the Universe as the very large mass of blue giants means that they do not live for long. After only roughly a million years these stars will collapse in on themselves and end their lives as\u00a0supernovae<\/a>, as will many of the other massive stars within the nebula.<\/p>\n

Besides the many newborn stars nestled in the nebula, this large region is still filled with enough dust and gas to create an even newer generation of stars. The regions of the nebula giving birth to new stars are visible in the image as dense clouds. The material forming these new stars includes the remains of the most massive stars from an older generation that have already ended their lives and ejected their material in violent supernova explosions. Thus the cycle of stellar life and death continues.<\/p>\n

Given the two very unusual blue giants in this area and the prominence of the nebula at infrared and radio wavelengths, it is perhaps surprising that this region has been comparatively little studied as yet by professional astronomers. Gum 56 has a diameter of around 250 light-years, but despite its huge size it has also often been overlooked by visual observers due to its faintness, and because most of the light it emits is at wavelengths not visible to the human eye.<\/p>\n

The nebula is at a distance of about 6000 light-years from Earth. In the sky it can be found in the constellation Scorpius<\/a>\u00a0(The Scorpion<\/em>) where it has a projected size which is four times the size of the full Moon [2]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This image, which only captures a part of the nebula, was taken with the 2.2-metre MPG\/ESO telescope<\/a> using the Wide Field Imager<\/a> (WFI) camera as part of the ESO Cosmic Gems<\/a> programme. The programme makes use of telescope time that cannot be used for science observations to produce images of interesting, intriguing or visually attractive objects. All data collected may also be suitable for scientific purposes, and are made available to astronomers through ESO\u2019s science archive.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This chart shows the prominent constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion). Most of the stars that can be seen in a dark sky with the unaided eye are marked. The location of the star formation region called the Prawn Nebula (IC 4628) is indicated with a red circle. This cloud appears large but is very faint and cannot be seen visually with a small telescope.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>[1] Note that these stars fall outside the field of view of this particular image and do not appear in the picture.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[2] A wide-angle view of the Prawn Nebula taken by the VLT Survey Telescope<\/a> was published earlier (eso1340a<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest\u00a0ESO\u00a0(European Southern Observatory) report: Cosmic Recycling Dominating this image is part of the gigantic nebula Gum 56, illuminated by the hot bright young stars that were born within it. For millions of years stars have been created out of the gas in this nebula, material which is later returned to the stellar nursery when … Continue reading ESO: New image of Prawn Nebula depicts “Cosmic Recycling”<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2Wh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11407,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=11407","url_meta":{"origin":11301,"position":0},"title":"ESO: A new image of “A Cosmic Rose with Many Names”","author":"TopSpacer","date":"September 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's the latest report from\u00a0ESO\u00a0(European Southern Observatory): A Cosmic Rose With Many Names This new image of the rose-coloured star forming region Messier 17 was captured by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG\/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO\u2019s La Silla Observatory in Chile. 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