The bright blob of hydrogen gas [
http://wwwusr.obspm
] cataloged as N88A is seen at the right. It measures a mere 3 light years across. Emerging from the cool, dusty interstellar medium in a nearby irregular galaxy known as the Small Magellanic Cloud [
http://antwrp.gsfc.
], N88A hides hot young stars at its core. The false-color [
http://aibn47.astro
] Hubble Space Telescope image was recorded in the characteristic "H-alpha" light emitted by hydrogen atoms [
http://csep10.phys.
] as they are ionized by the young star's energetic ultraviolet light and then recombine. Other regions [
http://antwrp.gsfc.
] of ionized hydrogen (H II regions [
http://www.treasure
]) which surround new born stars can be over a thousand light-years across [
http://antwrp.gsfc.
] but astronomers now recognize that these small ionized hydrogen blobs contain some of the most massive stars known.
explanation
The bright blob of hydrogen gas [ http://wwwusr.obspm.fr/~heydari/projects/N88 ] cataloged as N88A is seen at the right. It measures a mere 3 light years across. Emerging from the cool, dusty interstellar medium in a nearby irregular galaxy known as the Small Magellanic Cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980125.html ], N88A hides hot young stars at its core. The false-color [ http://aibn47.astro.uni-bonn.de/~gallery/articles/imagecolor.html ] Hubble Space Telescope image was recorded in the characteristic "H-alpha" light emitted by hydrogen atoms [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/light/absorption.html ] as they are ionized by the young star's energetic ultraviolet light and then recombine. Other regions [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980828.html ] of ionized hydrogen (H II regions [ http://www.treasure-troves.com/astro/HIIRegion.html ]) which surround new born stars can be over a thousand light-years across [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960816.html ] but astronomers now recognize that these small ionized hydrogen blobs contain some of the most massive stars known.
Explanation
false