One-half light-year long interstellar "twisters" in the Lagoon Nebula (M8) in the constellation Sagittarius
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image reveals a more distant view of the interstellar "twisters" in the heart of the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8) which lies 5,000 light-years away in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.
The central hot star, O Herschel 36 (upper left), is the primary source of the ionizing radiation for the brightest region in the nebula, called the
Hourglass. Other hot stars, also present in the nebula, are ionizing the extended optical nebulosity. The ionizing radiation induces photo-evaporation of the surfaces of the clouds (seen as a blue "mist" at the right of the image), and drives away violent stellar winds tearing into the cool clouds.
Credit: A. Caulet (ST-ECF, ESA) and NASA |
To the Top
