The word “nebula” comes from Latin which means “cloud.” It is apt, because nebulae (the plural of nebula) look like clouds of gases. Nebulae are made up mostly of hydrogen and helium gases, plus plasma and dust. These clouds are believed to be the birthplace of stars.
The universe is a wonderful space we live in. Its volume is unfathomable, and its beauty is unmatched.
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The biggest stars in the universe are called red supergiants. To get a picture of how huge these stars are, just imagine being able to fit 1800 suns into one red supergiant or imagine the sun growing so much that it already reaches the orbit of Saturn. But their superiority in size does not mean
When you look at stars in the night sky, it appears like they are just tiny dots of light that look the same. However, they are millions of lights years away, stars look very different from how they appear at night. They are in fact classified into several types according to their size, temperature, and
In the simplest sense, a radio galaxy, as the name connotes, is a galaxy that serves as a strong source of electromagnetic radiation or radio waves. The discovery of radio galaxies provides proof of the ability of the universe to expand contrary to the steady state it was once perceived to be. One of the
A short-period comet is a comet that has a relatively short lifespan for any observation can be made for comparative studies. That period is known to be shorter than two hundred years. Recently, short-period comets have been subdivided into the Jupiter-type comets, like that of Temple 2 and Encke, which typically have periods of just
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The invention of technological gadgets has made the universe seemingly small. Today, however, people have learned that the sun is just a star and is seen as big because of its proximity to Earth, which is about 150 million km away.
A planetary nebula is not a planet, although its name often gives that initial impression. It is actually the accumulation of gas and plasma given off by a star that is about to bade farewell to the universe. They are so named because their appearance through a small optical telescope closely resembles a giant planet.
From the name, a reflection nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust particles that reflect light from a nearby star. This means that as opposed to an emission nebula that gives off various colors, a reflection nebula is unable to give off its own light, but has to rely solely on the light given off
Comets are spectacular sights in the night sky. Despite their burning appearance, comets are actually made of ice, small rock particles, and dust. But comets, unlike meteors, are rarely seen in the night sky. Comets have different orbital periods, which can range from several years to hundreds of thousand years. Comets are classified according to
