nebula
Sign in to savethumb|right|upright=1.5|True color image of the Trifid Nebula, showing complex gas and plasma structure
AI overview
A nebula is a vast cloud of gas and plasma in space, often visible as a colorful structure when photographed by telescopes. Nebulae matter because they are regions where stars and planets form, making them crucial to understanding how our universe creates and evolves celestial objects.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
14 sectionsContents
- Observational history
- Formation
- Types
- Classical types
- Flux Nebulae
- Diffuse nebulae
- Planetary nebulae
- Protoplanetary nebulae
- Supernova remnants
- Examples
- Catalogs
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|right|upright=1.5|True color image of the Trifid Nebula, showing complex gas and plasma structure
A nebula (; or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula. In these regions, the formations of gas, dust, and other materials "clump" together to form denser regions, which attract further matter and eventually become dense enough to form stars. The remaining material is then thought to form planets and other planetary system objects.