M17: Celestial Sea of Stars

Spitzer_ssc2008-21a1_1024

spitzer_ssc2008-21a1 December 8th, 2008

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/M. Povich (Univ. of Wisconsin)

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured a new, infrared view of the choppy star-making cloud called M17, also known as the Omega Nebula or the Swan Nebula.

The cloud, located about 6,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius, is dominated by a central group of massive stars -- the most massive stars in the region. These central stars give off intense flows of expanding gas, which rush like rivers against dense piles of material, carving out the deep pocket at center of the picture. Winds from the region's other massive stars push back against these oncoming rivers, creating bow shocks like those that pile up in front of speeding boats.

Three of these bow shocks are nestled in the upper left side of the central cavity, but are difficult to spot in this view. They are composed of compressed gas in addition to dust that glows at infrared wavelengths Spitzer can see. The smiley-shaped bow shocks curve away from the stellar winds of the central massive stars.

This picture was taken with Spitzer's infrared array camera. It is a four-color composite, in which light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns is blue; 4.5-micron light is green; 5.8-micron light is orange; and 8-micron light is red. Dust is red, hot gas is green and white is where gas and dust intermingle. Foreground and background stars appear scattered through the image.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1972-ssc2008-21a1-M17-Celestial-Sea-of-Stars

Curator: Spitzer Science Center, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Public Domain

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Omega Nebula Swan Nebula Messier 17 M17 NGC 6618
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Star Formation
Star > Spectral Type > O

Distance

Universescale1
6,000 light years
Spitzer_ssc2008-21a1_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 18h 20m 27.6s
DEC = -16° 5’ 8.5”
Orientation
North is 61.9° CCW
Field of View
53.5 x 43.5 arcminutes
Constellation
Sagittarius

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_ssc2008-21a1_1280
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ID
ssc2008-21a1
Subject Category
B.4.1.2.   B.3.3.1  
Subject Name
Omega Nebula, Swan Nebula, Messier 17, M17, NGC 6618
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/M. Povich (Univ. of Wisconsin)
Release Date
2008-12-08
Lightyears
6,000
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1972-ssc2008-21a1-M17-Celestial-Sea-of-Stars
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
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
275.1149281578692, -16.085686090195889
Reference Dimension
2674, 2176
Reference Pixel
1337, 1088
Scale
-0.00033331314743883904, 0.00033331314743883904
Rotation
61.873238304
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Science Center
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
MS 220-6, 1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
Public Domain
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2008-21b.tif
Metadata Date
2011-09-02
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
6,000 light years

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