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Ghost of Jupiter

            This is a picture of a nebula.  A nebula is a cloud in space that is primarily made up of dust, hydrogen, and helium gas, and plasma.  A nebula forms when portions of the random stuff in between stars collapse and clump together due to the pull of gravity on the particles that make up them.  This particular type of nebula is a reflection nebula.  A reflection nebula is when “the light from an embedded source illuminates its dust; the nebula does not emit any visible light of its own.” (NASA)

This reflection nebula, NGC 1973, has the color blue in it.  The blue is the reflecting light from the surrounding stars.  There is a dust lane that is catching the light from the stars and reflecting it back (blue). There are also a lot of red, orange, and blue stars in this photo. These blue stars are the hottest stars. Then, the yellow and orange stars are cooler than the blue.


Villanueva, John C. Universe Today. N.p., 30 Mar. 2010. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. <>.

NASA. Ed. Yvette Smith. N.p., 23 Mar. 2008. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. <>.

Right Ascension (J2000) 5:35:18
Declination (J2000) -4:41:00
Exposure time per filter 1 x 60 sec. B, R, V (x5)
Date observed October 18, 2012



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