![]() Young Stars in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloudby realnasaphotos
"Newborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Called "Rho Oph" by astronomers, it's one of the closest star-forming regions to our own solar system. Located near the constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus, the nebula is about 407 light years away from Earth. Rho Oph is a complex made up of a large main cloud of molecular hydrogen, a key molecule allowing new stars to form from cold cosmic gas, with two long streamers trailing off in different directions. Recent studies using the latest X-ray and infrared observations reveal more than 300 young stellar objects within the large central cloud. Their median age is only 300,000 years, very young compared to some of the universe's oldest stars, which are more than 12 billion years old. The colors in this image reflect the relative temperatures and evolutionary states of the various stars. The youngest stars are surrounded by dusty disks of gas from which they, and their potential planetary systems, are forming. These young disk systems show up as red in this image. Some of these young stellar objects are surrounded by their own compact nebulae. More evolved stars, which have shed their natal material, are blue." - Official NASA Site. This is an official NASA image.
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Country: United States Sunsets State/Region: Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Sunsets City: 407 Light Years From Earth Sunsets
Photo Name: Young Stars in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud
Country: United States State/Region: Rho Ophiuchi Cloud City: 407 Light Years From Earth Camera: Spitzer Space Telescope
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Country: USA
State/Region: California City: Playa del Rey |