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Astronomy Image of the Day

Hot Stars in the Rosette Nebula

26 July 2007

Author not provided

NASA Astronomy Image of the Day for 26 July 2007

Winds and radiation from massive hot stars in the Rosette Nebula have cleared the natal gas and dust from the center of the nearby star-forming region. They also pose a danger to planet forming disks around young, cooler stars in the neighborhood. This Spitzer Space Telescope infrared image of dust clouds near the Rosette's central region, shows the cleared-out cavity. The view spans about 45 light-years at the the nebula's estimated distance of 5,200 light-years. Putting your cursor over the false color picture will highlight the dangerous hot stars, classified as O stars with surface temperatures of 25,000 kelvins or higher. Astronomers calculate that cool stars wandering within about 1.6 light-years of the Rosette's O stars are in danger of having their planet forming disks destroyed.

Image and explanation courtesy of NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day