Astronomy Picture of the Day - Cometary Globules

NASA ^ | 16 Jul, 2024 | Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson & Martin Pugh, Observatorio El Sauce

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: What are these unusual interstellar structures? Bright-rimmed, flowing shapes gather near the center of this rich starfield toward the borders of the nautical southern constellations Pupis and Vela. Composed of interstellar gas and dust, the grouping of light-year sized cometary globules is about 1300 light-years distant. Energetic ultraviolet light from nearby hot stars has molded the globules and ionized their bright rims. The globules also stream away from the Vela supernova remnant which may have influenced their swept-back shapes. Within them, cores of cold gas and dust are likely collapsing to form low mass stars, whose formation will ultimately cause the globules to disperse. In fact, cometary globule CG 30 (on the upper left) sports a small reddish glow near its head, a telltale sign of energetic jets from a star in the early stages of formation.

[MtnClimber]

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[MtnClimber]

[No name given]

Wow.

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[ComputerGuy]

You can almost see them dancing.

[DannyTN]

Those are dementors.

[FroggyTheGremlim]

The one on our right is a cheerleader.

[telescope115]

The one on the right has its fist raised. ITS THE TRUMP NEBULA!

[Fledermaus]

Hail Hydra

[AFB-XYZ]

The one on our right is a cheerleader.

Skirt's not short enough. :-)

[minnesota_bound]

I would say there are a stars a blowing up inside them there gas nebula’s.

[MtnClimber]

Those are like bean burrito gas nebulas.