Nebulae
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The Great Orion Nebula in the sword of Orion is pictured at left. Stars are being formed in the cloud of gas and dust. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Gas, dust and debris from star explosions and around star forming regions are called nebulae. A nebula can reflect light (Reflection Nebulae) or absorb light (Dark or Absorption Nebulae) while Emission Nebulae emit light on their own. The remnants of a star explosion are called Planetary Nebulae because they looked like planets to early astronomers with small telescopes. Some are named because of their recognizable shapes like the Ring Nebula in the constellation Lyra.
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The image at right is the Eagle Nebula in the constellation Aquila. You can see the darker clouds in the center look like a diving eagle. This emission nebula glows red because of hot hydrogen atoms.
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