This is not a rorschach test for psychology but an image of NGC 3324 or whatever you are imagining of this silhollet .
The fierce ultraviolet radiation given off by the young stars, NGC 3324, has carved this giant cavity in space. Because of the boundary between different gases it looks an awful lot like a person's profile.
The astronomers at the La Silla Observatory in Chile's Coquimbo Region have dubbed this the Gabriela Mistral Nebula. So how was this boundary created between the different parts of the nebula?
A deposit of gas and dust in the NGC 3324 region fueled a burst several millions of years ago and led to the creation of several hot stars that are apparent in the picture. Stellar winds and intense radiation from these stars have blown open a hollow in the surrounding gas and dust. The ultraviolet radiation from the hot stars knocks electrons out of hydrogen atoms thus ionizing it, which are then recaptured, leading to a crimson colored glow as the electrons jumps through the energy levels, showing the extent of the local diffuse gas. Other colors come from other elements, with the characteristic glow from ionized oxygen making the central parts appear greenish-yellow.
No comments:
Post a Comment