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Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby
Explanation:
What created the Waterfall Nebula?
The origin is still being researched.
The structure, officially designated
Herbig-Haro 222, appears in the region of
NGC 1999 in the
Great Orion Molecular Cloud complex.
The elongated gaseous stream stretches about ten
light years but appears similar to a long
waterfall on Earth.
Recent observations indicate that
HH-222
is likely a gigantic gaseous
bow shock,
similar to a wave of water caused by a fast-moving ship.
The origin of this
shock wave is thought to be a
jet outflow from the multiple
star system
V380 Orionis off the lower left of the frame.
Therefore, gas
does not flow along the waterfall,
but rather the entire structure moves toward the upper right.
The Waterfall Nebula lies about 1,500
light years away toward the
constellation of Orion.
The
featured image was captured earlier this month from
El Sauce Observatory in
Chile.
Jigsaw Nebula:
Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
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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: bow shock
Publications with words: bow shock
See also: