Infrared Black Widow Nebula

Spitzer_sig05-020a_1024

spitzer_sig05-020a October 28th, 2005

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/E. Churchwell (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and the GLIMPSE Team

In the constellation Circinus, where previous visible-light observations revealed only a faint hourglass-shaped patch of obscuring dust and gas, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope's dust-piercing eyes see a big "Black Widow Nebula" teeming with clusters of massive young stars.

In the Spitzer image, the two opposing bubbles are being formed in opposite directions by the powerful outflows from massive groups of forming stars. The baby stars can be seen as specks of yellow where the two bubbles overlap.

When individual stars form from molecular clouds of gas and dust they produce intense radiation and very strong particle winds. Both the radiation and the stellar winds blow the dust outward from the star creating a cavity or, bubble.In the case of the Black Widow Nebula, astronomers suspect that a large cloud of gas and dust condensed to create multiple clusters of massive star formation. The combined winds from these groups of large stars probably blew out bubbles into the direction of least resistance, forming a double bubble.

The infrared image was captured by the Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire (GLIMPSE) Legacy project. The Spitzer picture is a four-channel color composite, showing emission from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange) and 8.0 microns (red).

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2387-sig05-020a-Infrared-Black-Widow-Nebula

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Black Widow Nebula
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Star Formation

Distance

Universescale1
10,000 light years
Spitzer_sig05-020a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 15h 3m 33.4s
DEC = -57° 40’ 3.6”
Orientation
North is 209.1° CCW
Constellation
Circinus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 3.6 µm
Green Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 4.5 µm
Orange Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 5.8 µm
Red Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Green
Orange
Red
Spitzer_sig05-020a_1280
×
ID
sig05-020a
Subject Category
B.4.1.2.  
Subject Name
Black Widow Nebula
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/E. Churchwell (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and the GLIMPSE Team
Release Date
2005-10-28
Lightyears
10,000
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2387-sig05-020a-Infrared-Black-Widow-Nebula
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Distance taken from http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/B/Black_Widow_Nebula.html.
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRAC, IRAC, IRAC, IRAC
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Orange, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
3600, 4500, 5800, 8000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
225.889190729294, -57.66766009319317
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
800, 800
Scale
-0.00016668832325742589, 0.00016668832325742589
Rotation
209.116047856
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Spitzer Space Telescope
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
sig05-020a.tif
Metadata Date
2013-09-19
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
10,000 light years

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