This image may not be used to state or imply NOAO endorsement of any company or product Nebula NGC 6164-5. Optical image showing the composition of th

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This image may not be used to state or imply NOAO endorsement of any company or product Nebula NGC 6164-5. Optical image showing the composition of the nebula (cloud of gas and dust) surrounding star HD 148937. The colours correspond to light emitted by atoms of hydrogen (orange), oxygen (blue) and sulphur (red). HD 148937 is a massive star, 40 times the mass of the Sun, and 3-4 million years old. Radiation from the star is causing the surrounding gas and dust to glow and form the shapes seen here. This star and its nebula are 4200 light years from Earth in the constellation Norma. Image obtained by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) at Gemini South, Chile, and published in June 2006.

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Size: 3049px × 2878px
Photo credit: © GEMINI SOUTH GMOS/TRAVIS RECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE/NOAO/AURA/NSF/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 2006, 21st, 6164, 148937, 6164-5, 6165, active, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, century, chile, death, emission, gemini, glowing, gmos, hd, hot, hydrogen, multi-object, nebula, ngc, norma, observatory, optical, oxygen, science, south, space, spectrograph, star, stellar, sulfur, sulphur, telescope, young