A Fairytale in Space
2012년 5월 2일
This page isn't available in your language yet, if you'd like to provide a translation please contact us at info@unawe.org

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" asked the bright star as it watched its light reflect off grains of space dust. What a surprise the star got when it heard the answer: "These dust clouds!"

Okay, so stars can’t really talk, but these clouds of dust are more beautiful than the stars that are lighting them up. They are called reflection nebulae because they reflect the light from nearby stars, and ‘nebulae’ is the Latin word for ‘clouds’. 

The reflected starlight is shown in blue and white in the photo. The dust also generates some light of its own, which is shown in the photo in orange. These orange areas show where the dust has clumped together. 

Our eyes can’t see the low-energy light from the dust, but a special telescope called APEX can observe it. Without APEX, instead of being able to see these clumps of dust, astronomers would see nothing at all – just black emptiness that would block the view of whatever lies behind. 

But it’s important for astronomers to be able to see these regions, as new stars are born in these clouds of dust and gas. 

멋진 사실

The APEX telescope is in a desert in South America that is 5100 metres above sea level!

This Space Scoop is based on a Press Release from ESO .
ESO
그림
프린트용

좀 더 알고 싶으세요?

Space Scoop 이란?

천문학 알아보기

다음 세대의 우주 탐험가를 위하여

Space Scoop 친구들

연락처