06/07/2024
A Nebula is a cloud of gas and dust in space. These clouds can be made up of various elements like hydrogen and cosmic dust. Nebulae are often regions where stars are formed, like in the famous "Pillars of Creation" in the Eagle Nebula. Over time, the gas and dust in these regions clump together to form denser areas, eventually leading to the formation of stars. The leftover material can then go on to form planets and other objects in a planetary system.
Nebulae are usually very large, some spanning hundreds of light-years in diameter. While nebulae may look bigger when seen from Earth, they do not appear brighter when you get closer to them. Some nebulae, like the Orion Nebula, can even be seen with the naked eye, despite early astronomers initially missing them.
Most nebulae are less dense than the vacuum we can create on Earth. Even a nebula the size of Earth would only have a mass of a few kilograms. They can be visible due to fluorescence from hot stars within them, or sometimes they are so diffuse that special equipment is needed to detect them. Some nebulae also vary in brightness due to the presence of T Tauri variable stars.
In the past, the term "nebula" was used to describe any hazy astronomical object, including galaxies outside our Milky Way. For example, the Andromeda Galaxy was once called the Andromeda Nebula. However, scientists like Edwin Hubble later discovered that most nebulae are linked to stars and illuminated by starlight. Hubble also helped classify nebulae according to the type of light they emit.