File:Rho Ophiuchi.jpg
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Summary
DescriptionRho Ophiuchi.jpg |
English: A rich collection of colourful astronomical objects is revealed in this picturesque image of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Explorer, or WISE. The Rho Ophiuchi cloud (pronounced ‘oh-fee-yoo-ki’ and named after a bright star in the region) is found rising north of the plane of the Milky Way in the night sky, bordering the constellations Ophiuchus and Scorpius. It’s one of the nearest star-forming regions to Earth, allowing us to resolve much more detail than in more distant similar regions, like the Orion nebula.
The amazing variety of different colours seen in this image represents different wavelengths of infrared light. The bright white nebula in the centre of the image (IC 4603) is glowing due to heating from nearby stars, resulting in what is called an emission nebula. The same is true for most of the multi-hued gas prevalent throughout the entire image, including the bluish bow-shaped feature near the bottom right. The bright red area in the bottom right is light from the star in the centre – Sigma Scorpii – that is reflected off of the dust surrounding it, creating what is called a reflection nebula. And the much darker areas scattered throughout the image are pockets of cool dense gas that block out the background light, resulting in absorption (or ‘dark’) nebulae. WISE’s longer wavelength detectors can typically see through dark nebulae, but these are exceptionally opaque. The bright pink objects just left of centre are young stellar objects (YSOs). These baby stars are just now forming; many of them are still enveloped in their own tiny compact nebulae. In visible light, these YSOs are completely hidden in the dark nebula that surrounds them, which is sometimes referred to as their baby blanket. We can also see some of the oldest stars in our Milky Way Galaxy in this image, found in two separate (and much more distant) globular clusters. The first cluster, M80, is on the far right edge of the image towards the top. The second, NGC 6144, is found close to the bottom edge near the centre. They both appear as small densely compacted groups of blue stars. Globular clusters such as these typically harbour some of the oldest stars known, some as old as 13 billion years, born soon after the Universe formed. There are two other items of interest in this image as well. At the 3 o’clock position, relative to the bright central region, and about two-thirds of the way from the centre to the edge, there is a small faint red dot. That dot is an entire galaxy far, far away known as PGC 090239. And, at the bottom left of the image, there are two lines emerging from the edge. These were not created by foreground satellites; they are diffraction spikes (optical artefacts from the space telescope) from the bright star Antares that is just out of the field of view. Position of object (J2000): RA = 16h 25m 17s; Dec = -24° 14’ 49” Constellation: Ophiucus and Scorpius Field of View: 1.967x1.948 degrees The picture covers approximately Declination -22° to -26.1° and Right Ascension 16h17m to 16h37m. Orientation: North is 0.12966 degrees left of up Color Mapping: Blue=3.4 microns; Cyan=4.6 microns; Green=12 microns; Red=22 microns |
Date | |
Source | WISE |
Author | NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team |
Other versions |
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This image was selected as picture of the day on Wikimedia Commons for 26 October 2012. It was captioned as follows: English: A rich collection of colourful astronomical objects is revealed in this picturesque image of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Explorer, or WISE. Other languages:
Deutsch: Der Rho Ophiuchi Nebel im Sternbild Schlangenträger in einer Aufnahme des Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer English: A rich collection of colourful astronomical objects is revealed in this picturesque image of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Explorer, or WISE. Français : Une riche collection d'objets astronique est révélée dans cette image du nuage moléculaire de Rho Ophiuchi. Cette image provient du Wide-field Infrared Explorer de la NASA. Italiano: Una ricca collezione di colorati oggetti astronomici in una pittoresca immagine della Nube di Rho Ophiuchi ripresa dal telescopio spaziale WISE della NASA. Nederlands: Een rijke collectie van kleurrijke astronomische objecten die onthuld worden in deze foto van het Rho Ophiuchi wolkencomplex, genomen door de Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Русский: Туманность Ро Змееносца ქართული: მრავალფერი ასტრონომიული ობიექტები გველისმჭერის ნისლეულში. გადაღებულია ნასას Wide-field Infrared Explorer-დან. 中文: 广域红外线巡天探测卫星拍摄的蛇夫座ρ复合星云,里面包含了色彩艳丽的天体。 |
Notes
Licensing
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) | ||
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Annotations InfoField | This image is annotated: View the annotations at Commons |
PGC 090239
Rho ophiuchi multiple star system
Items portrayed in this file
depicts
1 April 2011
File history
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current | 08:48, 7 April 2011 | 10,300 × 10,100 (8.25 MB) | Originalwana | {{Information |Description ={{en|1=A rich collection of colourful astronomical objects is revealed in this picturesque image of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Explorer, or WISE. The Rho Ophiuchi cloud (pronounced ‘oh |
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