Nebula Facts 🌌
Do you know what Nebula is🤔
A nebula is a cloud of gas and dust in interstellar space. Every nebula contains hydrogen and helium, plus a mixture of other gases. There are several types of nebulae (plural of “nebula): molecular clouds (also known as HII regions because they are mainly hydrogen), dark nebulae, supernova remnants, and planetary nebulae. Our galaxy has many nebulae, and astronomers have found these clouds in other galaxies, as well.
- Most nebulae contain the “stuff of stars and planets”, including gases, dust, and complex molecules.
- As stars die and lose their materials to space, their gases and dust mix with clouds of gas, creating the complex nebulae we see.
- Nebulae are always in motion, even though they look quiescent in images. The clouds mix and churn, which creates magnetic fields.
- There are several types of molecular clouds: dark globules, emission nebulae, and reflection nebulae emission nebulae glow as their gases are heated. Reflection nebulae are mostly dust which reflects the light from nearby stars.
- Our Sun and planets formed in a nebula some 4.5 billion years ago.
- Nebulae exist in other galaxies. Astronomers have observed them in all spirals as well as the nearby Magellanic Clouds.