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The Eagle Nebula is a large, relatively nearby star-forming region in our Milky Way galaxy. It lies at a distance of about 7,000 light years from Earth. Hot, young stars recently formed by the collapse of gas in the nebula now shine, emitting copious amounts of ultraviolet radiation. This excites atoms within the gas clouds, which in turn emit their own light at very specific wavelengths (colors). Color in this image has been used to emphasize the distribution of energized atoms of three elements within the clouds. Red represents light emitted by ionized Sulphur atoms. Similarly, green represents excited Hydrogen atoms, and blue the light of ionized Oxygen.
Image and text copyright © Russell Croman. All rights reserved. |
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