When Roses Aren t Red:
Discover the cosmos!
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2018 February 22
When Roses Aren't Red
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Eric Coles and
Mel Helm
Explanation:
Not all roses are red
of course,
but they can still be very pretty.
Likewise, the beautiful
Rosette
Nebula and other star forming regions are often shown in
astronomical images with a predominately red hue,
in part because the dominant emission in the nebula is
from hydrogen atoms.
Hydrogen's strongest optical emission line, known as H-alpha,
is in the red region of the spectrum, but the beauty of an
emission nebula need not be appreciated
in red light alone.
Other
atoms in the nebula are also excited by energetic
starlight and produce narrow emission lines as well.
In this gorgeous view of the Rosette Nebula,
narrowband images are combined to show
emission from sulfur atoms in red, hydrogen in blue, and
oxygen in green.
In fact, the
scheme of mapping these narrow atomic
emission lines into broader colors is adopted in
many Hubble images
of stellar nurseries.
The image spans about 100 light-years in
the constellation Monoceros, at the 3,000 light-year
estimated
distance of the
Rosette
Nebula.
To make the Rosette red, just follow
this link or
slide your cursor over the image.
Tomorrow's picture: the moon isn't blue
<
| Archive
| Submissions
| Index
| Search
| Calendar
| RSS
| Education
| About APOD
| Discuss
| >
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman
Specific rights apply.
NASA Web
Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of:
ASD at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Photos of Nature, Nature Photography Across The Universe. All about Nature, Love, Travel, Beautiful Photo, Landscape, Sunset, Summer, Mountains, Flowers, Photographer, Wallpaper, Portrait, Photo, what is the Universe
Photos of Nature | Nature Photography What is The Universe
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment