APOD: Glowing Elements in the Soul Nebula (2018 Aug 21)

[APOD Robot]

Glowing Elements in the Soul Nebula

Explanation: Stars are forming in the Soul of the Queen of Aethopia. More specifically, a large star forming region called the Soul Nebula (IC 1898) can be found in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia, who Greek mythology credits as the vain wife of a King who long ago ruled lands surrounding the upper Nile river. The Soul Nebula houses several open clusters of stars, a large radio source known as W5, 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 is a composite of three exposures in different colors: red as emitted by hydrogen gas, yellow as emitted by sulfur, and blue as emitted by oxygen.

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[Chris Peterson]

The featured image is a composite of three exposures in different colors: red as emitted by hydrogen gas, yellow as emitted by sulfur, and blue as emitted by oxygen.

That's a peculiar mapping. It means we don't clearly see the distinction between hydrogen and sulfur, as the sulfur channel is split between red and green. That is, the red signal is coming from two different elements.

[Ann]

The featured image is a composite of three exposures in different colors: red as emitted by hydrogen gas, yellow as emitted by sulfur, and blue as emitted by oxygen.

That's a peculiar mapping. It means we don't clearly see the distinction between hydrogen and sulfur, as the sulfur channel is split between red and green. That is, the red signal is coming from two different elements.

I'm not fond of mapped color elements pictures in the first place, but that is beside the point here. The point is that I do find it peculiar that the picture suggests that ionized hydrogen dominates at the outer parts of the nebula, where the number of highly energetic photons is comparatively low, whereas ionized sulfur, which represents a lower degree of ionization than hydrogen, dominates closer to the hot stars, where radiation is more intense.

It makes no sense to me.

Ann

[Arthur Jefferson]

The Glowing Elements in the Soul Nebula should really be called The Great Balls of Fire.

[Boomer12k]

I find it odd too... The elements like Oxygen you see in Planetary nebula from things like a Supernova...yet, here they are in star forming regions of open clusters...and no remnant SN...must have been some at an earlier time. The heavier elements are made in SN's... There are blobs of I guess interstellar dust and gas, you see them in some SN's as well...it is really a weird thing to me... However... WE live in our own... "Local Bubble"...supernova blew it open, and spread the heavier seeds for new stars... just like there...so I guess it makes sense... I wonder what our local bubble looks like from there?????

:---[===] *

[Donald Pelletier]

Soul nebula is IC 1848, not IC 1898 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westerhout_5)

[Chris Peterson]

Soul nebula is IC 1848, not IC 1898 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westerhout_5)

IC 1898 is an edge-on spiral galaxy.

[neufer]

Soul nebula is IC 1848, not IC 1898 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westerhout_5)

And IC 1848 is more than 200 light years wide.

[heehaw]

Another APOD that I just want to JUMP RIGHT INTO!