The Rosette Nebula is actually a vast cloud of gas and dust about 5,000 light years away from us. It is made up of several smaller nebulae and star clusters known by their more unimaginative names as NGC 2237, 2238, 2239, and 2246. NGC stands for 'New General Catalog'; it was compiled by J. L. E. Dreyer in the 1880's using observations made by William Herschel. It is one of the best known and largest catalogs of deep-space objects of all kinds, i.e. galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, and gas clouds. There are over 8,000 objects with NGC designations. In the center of the nebula's rose lives the open star cluster NGC 2244 which was discovered even earlier in 1690. At 130 light years across, the birth of many hot, young stars has created enough radiation pressure to clear the central region of gas and dust, thereby producing the gorgeous petal visual that we have come to know and love as the Rosette Nebula.
Nice to know we have a standing celestial valentine from the Universe. In my mind it beats anything for sale here on Earth.
1 comment:
You are astonishingly pretty, and I am in love with your brain.
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