Photo Agency - Astronomy - Space - Nature

> The IC 2220, nebula, deep image

The IC 2220, nebula, deep image

author: Anglo-Australian Observatory/David Malin Images/Novapix

reference: a-nec22-20002

Image Size 300 DPI: 51 * 40 cm

Many stars lose a substantial part of their mass as they age. The more massive the star, the greater the fraction of their substance is lost. Much material is ejected by intense stellar winds driven from the surface of extremely hot stars and the mass loss is often only detectable in the stellar spectrum. In cooler stars temperatures may be low enough for elements or simple compounds to form solid grains in the star's outer atmosphere. This is seen as dust, and sometimes there is enough to reflect the light of the star within. As is often the case with stellar outflows, the IC 2220 reflection nebula is bipolar, hinting at conditions near the surface of the central star.

Keywords for this photo:

AAO - ASTRONOMY - CARINA - EVOLUTION - IC 2220 - MASSIVE STAR - NEBULA - POSTER - RED GIANT - REFLECTION NEBULA - SIDING SPRING - SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE - STAR -