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IC 4628: The Prawn Nebula
| Title |
IC 4628: The Prawn Nebula |
| Explanation |
South of Antares [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060714.html ], in the tail of the nebula-rich [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060628.html ] constellation Scorpius, lies emission nebula IC 4628 [ http://www.aao.gov.au/images/captions/aat105.html ]. Nearby hot, massive stars, millions of years young, radiate the nebula [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_II_region ] with invisible ultraviolet light, stripping electrons from atoms. The electrons eventually recombine with the atoms to produce the visible nebular glow [ http://vis.sdsc.edu/research/hayden2.html ]. This narrow band [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060324.html ] image adopts a typical false-color mapping [ http://hubblesite.org/gallery/behind_the_pictures/ meaning_of_color/eagle.shtml ] of the atomic emission, showing hydrogen emission in green hues, sulfur as red and oxygen as blue. At an estimated distance of 6,000 light-years, the region shown is about 250 light-years across. The nebula is also cataloged as [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060519.html ] Gum 56 for Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum, but seafood-loving astronomers might know [ http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/xtra/supp/ d-names.html ] this cosmic cloud as The Prawn Nebula [ http://www.martinpughastrophotography.id.au/ Nebulae/IC4628.htm ]. |
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