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Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander
Explanation:
This eagle ray
glides across a cosmic sea.
Officially cataloged as
SH2-63 and LBN 86,
the dark nebula is composed of gas and dust that
just happens to appear shaped like a
common ocean fish.
The interstellar dust
nebula appears light brown as it
blocks and
reddens visible light emitted behind it.
Dark nebulas glow primarily in
infrared light, but also reflect
visible light from surrounding stars.
The dust in dark nebulas is usually sub-millimeter chunks of
carbon, silicon, and oxygen,
frequently coated with frozen
carbon monoxide and
nitrogen.
Dark nebulas are also known as
molecular clouds
because they also contain relatively high amounts of
molecular
hydrogen and
larger molecules.
Previously unnamed, the here dubbed
Eagle Ray Nebula
is normally
quite dim but has been imaged clearly over 20-hours through
dark skies in
Chile.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: dark nebula
Publications with words: dark nebula
See also: