This is a series of close-up views of the complex gas structures in a small portion of the Carina Nebula. The nebula is a cold cloud of predominantly hydrogen gas. It is laced with dust, which makes the cloud opaque. The cloud is being eroded by a gusher of ultraviolet light from young stars in the region. They sculpt a variety of fantasy shapes, many forming tadpole-like structures. In some frames, smaller pieces of nebulosity can be seen freely drifting, such as the 2.3-trillion-mile-long structure at upper right. The most striking feature is a 3.5-trillion-mile-long horizontal jet in the upper left frame. It is being blasted into space by a young star hidden in the tip of the pillar-like structure. A bowshock has formed near the tip of the jet.
Credits
Image
NASA, ESA, Mario Livio (STScI), Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | HH 901 and HH 902 in the Carina Nebula |
| Object Description | Carina Nebula Star-forming Pillars and Herbig-Haro Objects with Jets |
| R.A. Position | 10h 44m 5.25s |
| Dec. Position | -59° 29' 44.99" |
| Constellation | Carina |
| Distance | 7,500 light-years (2,300 parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | This image was created from HST data from proposal : M. Livio, K. Noll, M. Mutchler, Z. Levay, L. Frattare, W. Januszewski, C. Christian, and T. Borders (Hubble 20th Anniversary Team, STScI). |
| Instrument | HST>WFC3/UVIS |
| Exposure Dates | February 1-2, 2010, Exposure Time: 9.3 hours |
| Filters | F673N ([S II]), F657N (H-alpha+[N II]), and F502N ([O III]) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | This image is a composite of separate exposures made by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Each filter was used to sample a narrow wavelength range over a broad range of the visible colors. The composite color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Red: F673N ([S II]) Green: F657N (H-alpha+[N II]) Blue: F502N ([O III]) |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
