The Perseus Arm. Map of the Perseus spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy. The diameter of the area shown is about 9000 light years. The Perseus Arm merg

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The Perseus Arm. Map of the Perseus spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy. The diameter of the area shown is about 9000 light years. The Perseus Arm merges with the Local Arm (top right), which contains the Sun. Pink areas are bright nebulae associated with clusters of young, hot stars. The nebulae are formed when hydrogen is ionised and lit up by the ultraviolet radiation of the stars. Blue giant stars are shown as blue circles with white cores. Molecular clouds (orange) are formed by dust and molecules and are regions of star birth. Clouds of neutral hydrogen are yellow. The Henbest/Baum galaxy map is based on the locations of 1500 bright stars, nebulae and other objects.

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Size: 4901px × 3650px
Photo credit: © J. BAUM & N. HENBEST/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: arm, artwork, astronomy, cosmology, galactic, galaxy, milky, perseus, science