How did a star form this beautiful nebula? In the middle of emission nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] NGC 6164-5 is an unusually massive star nearing the end of its life. The star, visible in the center of the above image [ http://www.gemini.e…] and catalogued as HD 148937, is so hot that the ultraviolet light [ http://imagers.gsfc…] it emits heats up gas that surrounds it. That gas was likely thrown off from the star, possibly by its fast rotation, like a rotating lawn sprinkler. Expelled material might have been further channeled by the magnetic field [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of the star, creating the symmetric shape [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of the bipolar nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Several cometary knots [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of gas are also visible on the lower left. NGC 6164-5 [ http://adsabs.harva…] spans about four light years [ http://en.wikipedia…] and is located about 4,000 light years away toward the southern constellation Norma [ http://www.seds.org…].
Explanation
How did a star form this beautiful nebula? In the middle of emission nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] NGC 6164-5 is an unusually massive star nearing the end of its life. The star, visible in the center of the above image [ http://www.gemini.e…] and catalogued as HD 148937, is so hot that the ultraviolet light [ http://imagers.gsfc…] it emits heats up gas that surrounds it. That gas was likely thrown off from the star, possibly by its fast rotation, like a rotating lawn sprinkler. Expelled material might have been further channeled by the magnetic field [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of the star, creating the symmetric shape [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of the bipolar nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Several cometary knots [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of gas are also visible on the lower left. NGC 6164-5 [ http://adsabs.harva…] spans about four light years [ http://en.wikipedia…] and is located about 4,000 light years away toward the southern constellation Norma [ http://www.seds.org…].
