Star-forming regions in the Carina Nebula
[Left] -- A towering "mountain" of cold hydrogen gas laced with dust is the site of new star formation in the Carina Nebula. The great gas pillar is being eroded by the ultraviolet radiation from the hottest newborn stars in the nebula.
[Right] -- A close-up look at the peak of one of these "pillars of creation" reveals unequivocal evidence that stars are being born inside the columns. A pencil-like streamer of gas shoots out in both directions from the pillar and ploughs into surrounding gas like a fire hose hitting a wall of sand. The jet is being launched from a newly forming star hidden inside the column. A similar jet appears near the bottom of the image. These stellar jets are a common signature of the birth of a new star.
This image is from a mosaic of the Carina Nebula assembled from 48 frames taken with the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Hubble images were taken in the light of ionized hydrogen. Colour information was added with data taken at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Red corresponds to sulphur, green to hydrogen, and blue to oxygen emission.
Credit:About the Image
Id: | heic0707b |
Type: | Collage |
Release date: | 24 April 2007, 15:00 |
Related releases: | heic0707 |
Size: | 3235 x 2242 px |
About the Object
Name: | Carina Nebula, NGC 3372 |
Type: | Milky Way : Nebula Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Jet |
Distance: | 7500 light years |
Category: | Nebulae |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical Oiii | 501 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Optical H-alpha + Nii | 658 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Optical Sii | 672 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Optical H-alpha + Nii | 656 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |