Credit & Copyright: Jeff
Signorelli
Explanation:
Double,
double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble .... maybe Macbeth
should have consulted the Witch Head Nebula.
A suggestively shaped
reflection nebula, this
cosmic crone is about 800 light-years away though.
Its frightening visage seems to glare toward
nearby bright star Rigel in Orion,
just off the right edge of this frame.
More formally known as
IC 2118,
the interstellar cloud of dust and gas is nearly 70 light-years across,
its dust grains reflecting Rigel's starlight.
In this
composite portrait, the nebula's color
is caused not only by the star's intense bluish light but because the
dust grains
scatter blue light more efficiently than red.
The same physical process causes
Earth's daytime sky to appear blue,
although the scatterers in
planet Earth's atmosphere are molecules of nitrogen and oxygen.
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 |
Yanvar' Fevral' Mart Aprel' Mai Iyun' Iyul' Avgust Sentyabr' Oktyabr' Noyabr' Dekabr' |
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
|
Publikacii s klyuchevymi slovami:
IC 2118 - Witch Head Nebula - tumannost' Golova Ved'my
Publikacii so slovami: IC 2118 - Witch Head Nebula - tumannost' Golova Ved'my | |
|
Sm. takzhe:
| |
