A Nebula is an concetration of gases and dust in space. There are different types of nebulae. Diffuse Nebulae are the birthplace of stars. These gases, dust and other matter come together to form stars and star systems. Planetary Nebulae are the remains of stars in the final stages of life, the outer layers of red giants being expelled into space.

This Hubble image captures the infancy of the Stingray Nebula, the youngest known planetary nebula. A ring of gas (green) surrounds the central star with bubbles of gas to the lower left and upper right of the ring. The red lines are bright gas that is heated by a 'shock' caused when the central star's wind hits the walls of the bubble. The nebula is as large as 130 solar systems and is 18,000 light-years away. The Stingray is located in the direction of the southern constellation Ara (the Altar). Click on the photo for an enlarged view.

In the Large Magellanic Cloud lays the Tarantula Nebula. In the lower right hand corner of this photo is Hodge 301, a cluster of brilliant, massive stars. Many of the stars in Hodge 301 are so old they are exploding as supernovae. Material is blasting out into the Tarantula Nebula at speeds of almost 200 miles per second. Hodge 301 also contains three red supergiants, stars that are close to the end of their lives and about to go supernova.

Looking like stalagmites on a cavern floor, pillars of interstellar dust and gases protrude from the interior wall of a dark molecular cloud. This is an incubator for new stars, the Eagle Nebula, M16. From these gases and materials will form new stars. Click on the photo for an enlarged view.

This spectacular color panorama of the center of the Orion Nebula is one of the largest pictures ever assembled from individual images taken with the Hubble Telescope. The picture is a mosaic of 15 seperate fields. Located 1500 light-years away along our spiral arm of the Milky Way, the Orion Nebula is located in the middle of the sword region of the constellation Orion the Hunter, which dominates the early winter evening sky at northern latitudes. The stars have formed from collapsing clouds of interstellar gas within the last million years. The most massive clouds have formed the brightest stars near the center and these are so hot that they illuminate the gas left behind after the period of star formation was complete. The more numerous faint stars are still in the process of collapsing under their own gravity, but have become hot enough in their centers to be self luminous bodies. Click on the photo for an enlarged view.

This is an image of MyCn18, a young planetary nebula located about 8,000 light-years away. Features revealed in MyCn18 by Hubble are posing new questions about the formation of planetary nebula. Click on the photo for an enlarged view.

NGC 3603 is a giant galactic nebula. In one view we see different stages of the life cycle of stars. In the upper left has evolved a blue supergiant (Sher 25). Near the center are young, hot Wolf-Rayet stars and early O-type stars. Bok globules appear in the upper right. To the lower left are two compact emission nebulae.

The Crab Nebula. For a history of the Crab Nebula, click here or on the photo.

 

Pulsars. To read how pulsars are formed, click here

 

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