This nebula, called NGC 1999, is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion.

Like fog around a street lamp, say NASA, a reflection nebula is visible because it reflects the light from an internal light source illuminating its dust. Scientists regard this nebular as one for the history books, as the nearby Herbig-Haro object – jets of gas ejected from young stars – was discovered next to it.

The nebula is illuminated by a bright, recently formed star that is nearly twice as hot as our Sun. The young star is so new that it’s still surrounded by its formation material – the nebula. The jet-black cloud near its center is an example of a Bok globule, named after the late University of Arizona astronomer Bart Bok. The globule appears black because it so dense it blocks all the light behind it.

Read the story

In an infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the Rosette Nebula displays a multi-coloured, almost abstract painting quality. Found in the constellation Monoceros, the nebular appears like a rosebud when viewed through an optical telescope.

Scientists used Spitzer’s infrared vision to survey the extent of the five danger zones (the blue circles) – areas where younger stars are at risk of having their material blown away by O-stars, which release powerful winds and radiation. The green is layers of dust blown from the O-stars, and the red is cooler dust.

Read the story

The Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is a planetary nebula that could foresee what’s in store for our Sun – in a few billion years or so.

When a star like the Sun begins to die, it turns into a red giant. In this phase, a star loses its outer layers and collapses to form a dense white dwarf star, which the Cat’s Eye Nebula will do in a few million years. The filaments seen here are created from the hot, fast wind ejected from the core, at about 6.4 million km/hr.

Read the story

Look closely and you can see where the name Witch Head Nebula comes from. The nebula near the star Rigel in the constellation Orion looks, side-on, like a fairytale villain.

As a reflection nebula, its glow is derived from light reflected from Rigel. The blue colour is related to the colour of its star and from the dust reflecting blue light more efficiently than red – similar to the way an Earth sky is blue and its sunsets red.

Read the story

This nebula’s figure eight shape when seen through a telescope gives rise to its alias, the Eight-Burst Nebula. The nebula, seen in the southern hemisphere, is nearly 2,000 light years from Earth. Gases are moving away from its central dying star at a rate of almost 5800 km/hr.

Read the story

The Eagle Nebula seems more like a mythical monster than a space object. Its length spans 10 light-years and it emits more radiation than a typical fire. It’s composed of gas and dust, which acts as an incubator for a stellar nursery.

Read the story

The Eskimo Nebula was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1787. Its name refers to the likeness of an Eskimo’s head covered by a furry hood.

It is a planetary nebula, with the outer disk having unusual orange filaments the equivalent of a light-year.

Read the story

The complex Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) is made from gaseous discs, ballooned out from its dying star.

The image is a composite of infrared data from Spitzer and visible-light data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Read the story

The Boomerang Nebula is found toward the constellation Centauru, about 5,000 light-years away. This nebula is mighty chilly: scientists have measured it as one degree Kelvin above absolute zero, which is about -272 Celsius.

This reflecting cloud of dust and gas has two nearly symmetric cones of matter ejected from a central star.

Read the story

Discovered in the late 1800s, the Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) in the constellation Orion – 1500 light-years away – is one of the most well-known nebulas.

The red glow is a result of hydrogen gas, energised by the nearby star, Sigma Orionis. Streams of gas emitted from the nebula are subject to a strong magnetic field. The bright spots at the base are the birth of young stars.

Read the story

The Crab Nebula, which spans about 10 light-years, is formed from a supernova. It is another strange nebula, which appears to have less mass than released from the original supernover.

In the centre of the nebular lies a pulsar as massive as the Sun, but the size of a small town, say NASA. It rotates about 30 times each second.

Read the story

Researchers don’t yet know what’s lighting up Ira’s Ghost (IRAS 05437+2502), a small, faint nebula in the constellation of Taurus. The bright, upside-down V defines the upper edge of this mass of interstellar dust.

This ghost-like nebula involves a small star-forming region filled with dark dust that was first noted in images taken by the IRAS satellite in infrared light in 1983. This recently released image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows many new details, but has not uncovered a clear cause of the bright sharp arc.

Read the story