Hubble peers inside a celestial geode
In this unusual image, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures a rare view of the celestial equivalent of a geode - a gas cavity carved by the stellar wind and intense ultraviolet radiation from a young hot star.
Real geodes are handball-sized, hollow rocks that start out as bubbles in volcanic or sedimentary rock. Only when these inconspicuous round rocks are split in half by a geologist, do we get a chance to appreciate the inside of the rock cavity that is lined with crystals. In the case of Hubble's 35 light-year diameter "celestial geode" the transparency of its bubble-like cavity of interstellar gas and dust reveals the treasures of its interior.
Credit:ESA/NASA, Yäel Nazé (University of Liège, Belgium) and You-Hua Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana, USA)
About the Image
Id: | heic0413a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 12 August 2004, 15:00 |
Related releases: | heic0413 |
Size: | 1231 x 696 px |
About the Object
Name: | LHA 120-N 44F, N44F |
Type: | Local Universe : Nebula : Appearance : Emission : H II Region |
Distance: | 150000 light years |
Constellation: | Dorado |
Category: | Nebulae |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 5 21 45.49 |
Position (Dec): | -67° 54' 33.88" |
Field of view: | 2.05 x 1.15 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 213.5° left of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical Sii | 673 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Optical Pseudogreen |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 | |
Optical H-alpha | 656 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |