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What it is : A star - forming nebula call IRAS 16562 - 3959
When it was published : Feb. 21 , 2024
IRAS 16562-3959 is a relatively close nebula where stars are being born.
Where it is:5,900 light-headed - years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius .
Why it ’s so special : Not only is Hubble ’s latest image of a virtuoso - constitute nebula delicately elaborated and packed with activity , but it ’s also outstandingly colorful . It did n’t start that way . Hubble ’s 16 - megapixel Wide Field Camera 3 is jibe with four filters , each of which only allows very specific wavelengths of light to pass through . These wavelength let in ultraviolet and near - infrared sparkle , which are unseeable to the human optic . The lead datasets that astronomers welcome on Earth are opprobrious and white , but by assigning colour to each wavelength , it ’s possible to construct a color image . That ’s lively because it intend we can see beautiful images like this and astronomer can figure out what ’s going on more well .
Related:25 gorgeous nebula photos that beguile the stunner of the world
But this double of IRAS 16562 - 3959 is a piddling dissimilar . Although it utilize the same color filters as most other Hubble images , the telescope collect onlyinfrared light . So , image specialiser pick out bluer color for shorter wavelengths and redder colors for foresighted wavelengths .
The result is a dramatically color image with depth . The glow in the top - left and bottom - veracious corner fall from the light of star being born . In the eye of the image is a junk cloud in front of the nebula , haze over its light . Stars also sit in front of the nebula while gaseous state and detritus surround it .
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Scientists believe IRAS 16562 - 3959 host a monolithic protostar — a virtuoso still being organize — that ’s about 30 metre the Dominicus ’s mass . The center of the image is too obscured by dust to show the genius ’s refulgency ; but brighter regions to the upper left and lower rightfield of center are thought to be surface area where the new champion ’s powerful K of radiation are push gasoline away , reveal the cosmic landscape beneath .
