Skies

The Cocoon Nebula

The Cocoon Nebula

The Cocoon Nebula is a rare kind of phenomenon, as we will see below. Emission nebulae are often related to sites of massive star formation in the Milky Way. They appear in various forms, like the turbulent gas flows of the Orion Nebula, or the phenomenal Elephant’s Trunk Nebula with its bright-rimmed dark clouds. Dust …

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Stars in the making

Stars in the making

How does it look like, the birth of stars? Are they easy to spot? Or are they hiding somewhere? Hot stars (like Menkib) can produce massive regions of glowing gas known as emission nebulae. Often these are sites of massive star formation, like in the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula or the Orion Nebula. They emit light …

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Regulus, the pendulum

Regulus, the pendulum

The brightest star of the Leo constellation is alpha Leonis. Today it is known as Regulus, but it had a variety of names in different cultures. And most astrophysicists do not know that it is a star system known by amateurs astronomers as ‘Regulus, the pendulum’. Why? Let’s find out! This star and its location …

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The hottest stars in the sky

The hottest stars in the sky

Some like it hot! The most massive stars have very high surface temperatures, and they can even make the surrounding interstellar gas glow. Stars can be classified by their brightness and color (an astronomer would say: spectral type). Brightness and color is related to other physical parameters like mass, size, and surface temperature, and one …

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