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  • Ville Puoskari

Heart of the heart nebula

In this cosmic landscape there is plenty of intresting details. This region is dominated by bright nebulosities that are sculpted by stellar winds of massive hot stars in the nebula's newborn star cluster, Melotte 15. Some of the stars in this cluster are 50 times as large as the Sun! Note that all nebulous pillars point to the same direction towards the center of this star cluster. This is telltale sign of stellar winds that errode the gas away, leaving only the densest clouds of gas basking in radiation.

On the bottom right corner you can see a tiny elliptical nebulosity. This often overlooked target is called WeBo1 and it's a planetary nebula caused by creation of a young barium star in its core. The central star has a rotation perioid of only 4.7 days and it radiates strongly in UV ionizing the ejected ring.


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