Media Information
 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
IC 4603: Reflection Nebula in Ophiuchius
Explanation:
Why does this starfield photograph resemble an impressionistic painting [ http://www.ibiblio.…]? The effect is created not by digital trickery [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] but by large amounts of interstellar dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Dust, minute globs rich in carbon [ http://www.nyu.edu/…] and similar in size [ http://www.lakeair.…] to cigarette smoke [ http://amos.indiana…], frequently starts in the outer atmospheres of large, cool, young stars. The dust [ http://nedwww.ipac.…] is dispersed as the star dies and grows as things stick to it in the interstellar medium [ http://www-ssg.sr.u…]. Dense dust clouds are opaque [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] to visible light [ http://imagine.gsfc…] and can completely hide background stars. For less dense clouds, the capacity of dust to preferentially reflect blue [ http://www.why-is-t…] starlight becomes important, effectively blooming the stars blue light out and marking the surrounding dust. Nebular gas emissions, typically brightest in red light [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], can combine to form areas seemingly created on an artist's canvas. Photographed above [ http://home.earthli…] is roughly one square degree of the nebula IC 4603 [ http://www.psiaz.co…] near the bright star Antares [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] toward the constellation [ http://www.adlerpla…] of Ophiuchus [ http://www.seds.org…].
Credit and Copyright:
Gary Stevens [ mailto:garylstevens at earthlink.net ]
facet_where:
Indiana
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where:
Washington, D.C.
facet_what:
ANTARES
facet_what:
Visible Light
facet_what:
Ophiuchus
facet_what:
nebula
facet_what:
reflection nebula
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap030721

IC 4603: Reflection Nebula in Ophiuchius
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