Stars are forming in the Soul of the Queen of
Aethopia. More specifically, a large star forming region called the
Soul Nebula can be found in the direction of the
constellation Cassiopeia, whom Greek mythology credits as the
vain wife of a King who long ago ruled
lands surrounding the
upper Nile river. Also known as Westerhout 5 (W5), the Soul Nebula houses several open
clusters of stars, ridges and pillars darkened by cosmic dust, and huge evacuated bubbles formed by the winds of young massive
stars. Located about 6,500 light years away, the Soul Nebula spans about 100
light years and is usually imaged next to its celestial
neighbor the Heart Nebula (IC 1805). The
featured image, taken from near Nashville, Tennessee, USA, is a composite of 234 hours of exposures made in different colors: red as emitted by
hydrogen gas, yellow as emitted by
sulfur, and blue as emitted by
oxygen.
Evrim Ağacı
