[New post] Astronomy Photo of the Day: 2/19/15 — Gum Nebula

New post on From Quarks to Quasars Astronomy Photo of the Day: 2/19/15 — Gum Nebula by Jaime Trosper Image Credit: Greg Bradley AstroPhotos This stunning image glimpses the Gum nebula, Gum 14 and Gum 15, more specifically, two nebulae found around 3,000 light-years from Earth in the Vela constellation. From a previous write up, [box style="0"] Gum 15 is just as obscure as it is beautiful. From within the gaseous walls of this interstellar home, hundreds of newly-born stars are being forged, all incredibly hot and even more energetic. We are witnessing this stellar nursery at a crucial tipping point in its evolution (thanks, in part, to the ESO’s  Cosmic Gems program) because,  as each individual star emerges from its stellar cocoon, it tears away at its home piece-by-piece, until eventually, there will be nothing left. This image gives us a detailed look at the contrasting shades of black and pink. The latter comes from a series of partially ionized clouds (H11 regions), while the latter color comes from filaments of coarse interstellar dust grains, making up dark nebulae. [/box] Also within the vicinity of the Gum nebulae is NGC 2626: a small reflection nebula that lurks along the border of the Vela and Puppis constellations. They, in turn, belong to the RCW 27 complex. Jaime Trosper | February 19, 2015 at 10:01 am | Tags: APOD, APotD, Gum 14, Gum 15, Gum Nebula, Nebulae, NGC 2626, RCW 27 | Categories: Astronomy Photos | URL: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/?p=36414