Soul Nebula

Wise_wise2010-010_1024

wise_WISE2010-010 April 2nd, 2010

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team

This WISE mosaic is of the Soul Nebula (a.k.a. the Embryo Nebula, IC 1848, or W5). It is an open cluster of stars surrounded by a cloud of dust and gas over 150 light-years across and located about 6,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia, near the Heart Nebula (partially seen in the WISE image of Maffei 1 & 2).

The cluster of stars, IC 1848, formed about a million years ago from the material of the nebula. Winds and ultraviolet light from these young stars are excavating a cavity in the cloud. Parts of the cloud that are more dense than their surroundings are being eroded more slowly and form giant towers, or pillars of dust and gas, which all point toward the central star cluster. Its reminiscent of the landscape of Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Material at the interior edges of the cavity is also being compressed by the winds and radiation from the star cluster. This triggers new star formation in those areas. The pillars inside the Soul Nebula are each about 10 light-years tall and have stars forming at their tips.

All four infrared detectors aboard WISE were used to make this image. Color is representational: blue and cyan represent infrared light at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is primarily light from stars. Green and red represent light at 12 and 22 microns, which is primarily emission from warm dust.

A note about astronomical names: Many objects in the sky have common names that astronomers will use to reference them. However, many, many more objects in the sky do not have common names and only their entry name in an astronomical catalogue is used. One of the most prominent astronomical catalogues is the New General Catalogue (NGC) of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars. It was published in the 1880s. So an object with a name like NGC 7380 means that it is the 7,380th entry in the NGC. Two additional catalogues were published as addendums to the NGC called the Index Catalogues (IC) between 1896 and 1905. The designation of IC 1848 for the Soul Nebula means that it is the 1,848th entry in the Index Catalogues of the NGC. There are many catalogues of astronomical objects, each with their own purpose, and objects can be listed in more than one catalogue. For example, Dutch Astronomer Gart Westerhout made a catalogue of radio sources in the sky. Entry number five in the catalogue, W5, corresponds to IC 1848, i.e. the Soul Nebula (sometimes called the Embryo Nebula).

Provider: Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer

Image Source: /image/wise/WISE2010-010

Curator: Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Berkeley, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Pulic Domain

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
W5 Soul Nebula IC 1848
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Star Formation
Nebula > Appearance > Emission > H II Region

Distance

Universescale1
6,500 light years
Wise_wise2010-010_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 2h 52m 15.3s
DEC = 60° 23’ 52.5”
Orientation
North is 112.8° CCW
Field of View
3.0 x 1.5 degrees
Constellation
Cassiopeia

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue WISE Infrared (Near-IR) 3.4 µm
Cyan WISE Infrared (Near-IR) 4.6 µm
Green WISE Infrared (Mid-IR) 12.0 µm
Red WISE Infrared (Mid-IR) 22.0 µm
Spectrum_ir1
Blue
Cyan
Green
Red
Wise_wise2010-010_1280
×
ID
WISE2010-010
Subject Category
B.4.1.2.   B.4.2.1.1.  
Subject Name
W5, Soul Nebula, IC 1848
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team
Release Date
2010-04-02
Lightyears
6,500
Redshift
Reference Url
/image/wise/WISE2010-010
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
WISE, WISE, WISE, WISE
Instrument
Color Assignment
Blue, Cyan, Green, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
3400, 4600, 12000, 22000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
Reference Value
43.0637851, 60.3979115
Reference Dimension
6660.0, 3482.0
Reference Pixel
3331.0, 1742.0
Scale
0.000444378, 0.00044437831
Rotation
112.78
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
URL
http://wise.astro.ucla.edu
Name
Email
outreach@ssl.berkeley.edu
Telephone
Address
7 Gauss Way
City
Berkeley
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
94720
Country
USA
Rights
Pulic Domain
Publisher
Publisher ID
wise
Resource ID
Resource URL
/image/wise/WISE2010-010
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2018-01-11T02:37:19Z
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
6,500 light years

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