Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! IC 5146: The Cocoon Nebula Credit & Copyright: Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CFHT), Hawaiian Starlight, CFHT How did this nebula get created? The Cocoon Nebula, cataloged as IC 5146, is a strikingly beautiful nebula located about 4,000 light years away toward the constellation of Cygnus. Inside the Cocoon is a newly developing open cluster of stars. Like other stellar nurseries, the Cocoon Nebula is, at the same time, an emission nebula, a reflection nebula, and an absorption nebula. Speculation based on recent measurements holds that the massive star in the center of the above image opened a hole in an existing molecular cloud through which much of the glowing material flows. The same star, which formed about 100,000 years ago, now provides the energy source for much of the emitted and reflected light from this nebula.
just wondering...can we take photos (just like a 35mm camera, no special visual spectrum analysis, x rays...) of space objects that far away and they turn out to be that colorful? Or is it all done by measuring stuff and coloring by numbers with a computer?
Look to the bottom of this thread for a post by Laser. He has used a telephoto lens, 35 mm camera, and an equatorial mount. No telescope... http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7319
