
Ccd Optical Image Of The Eagle Nebula

by Science Photo Library
Title
Ccd Optical Image Of The Eagle Nebula
Artist
Science Photo Library
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Eagle nebula. Enhanced optical image of the centre of the Eagle nebula (M16, NGC 6611) in the constellation Serpens Cauda. This nebula gets its name from the dark dust lane at upper centre, which is said to look like a flying eagle. The nebula is a huge cloud of gas and dust, which lies around 6000 light years from Earth. It glows red due to the ionisation of its hydrogen gas by radiation from hot, young stars embedded in it. The denser areas of dust may eventually condense into new stars. This image was produced by a CCD (charge-coupled device) camera, which stores images electronically rather than on film.
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October 4th, 2018
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