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Credit & Copyright: Craig Stocks
Explanation:
Look through the cosmic cloud cataloged as NGC 281
and you might miss the stars of open cluster
IC 1590.
Formed
within
the nebula, that cluster's young, massive stars
ultimately power the pervasive nebular glow.
The eye-catching shapes looming in the featured
portrait of NGC 281 are sculpted dusty columns and dense
Bok globules
seen in silhouette, eroded by intense, energetic winds and
radiation
from the hot cluster stars.
If they survive long enough,
the dusty structures could also be sites of future star formation.
Playfully called
the Pacman Nebula because of its overall shape,
NGC 281 is about 10,000 light-years away in the constellation
Cassiopeia.
This sharp composite image was made through
narrow-band filters.
It combines emission from the nebula's hydrogen
and oxygen atoms to
synthesize red, green, and blue colors.
The scene spans well over 80
light-years at the estimated distance of
NGC 281.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
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: NGC 281 - star formation
Publications with words: NGC 281 - star formation
See also: