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Credit & Copyright: Adriano Almeida
Explanation:
What dark structures arise within the Pelican Nebula?
On the whole, the nebula appears like a bird
(a pelican)
and is seen toward the constellation of a different bird:
Cygnus,
a Swan.
But inside, the Pelican Nebula is a place lit up by new stars and
befouled by dark dust.
Smoke-sized
dust grains start as
simple carbon compounds formed in the
cool atmospheres of young stars but are dispersed by
stellar winds and
explosions.
Two impressive Herbig-Haro jets are seen emitted by the star HH 555 on the right,
and these jets are helping to
destroy the
light year-long dust
pillar that contains it.
Other pillars and jets are also visible.
The featured image was
scientifically-colored
to emphasize light emitted by small amounts of
heavy elements in a nebula made predominantly of the light elements
hydrogen and
helium.
The Pelican Nebula (IC 5067 and IC 5070) is about 2,000
light-years away and can be found with a small telescope
to the northeast of the bright star
Deneb.
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Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: jet - Pelican Nebula
Publications with words: jet - Pelican Nebula
See also: