Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2020 March 25

                          Star Forming Region S106
   Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing & Copyright:
                               Utkarsh Mishra

   Explanation: Massive star IRS 4 is beginning to spread its wings. Born
   only about 100,000 years ago, material streaming out from this newborn
   star has formed the nebula dubbed Sharpless 2-106 Nebula (S106),
   featured here. A large disk of dust and gas orbiting Infrared Source 4
   (IRS 4), visible in brown near the image center, gives the nebula an
   hourglass or butterfly shape. S106 gas near IRS 4 acts as an emission
   nebula as it emits light after being ionized, while dust far from IRS 4
   reflects light from the central star and so acts as a reflection
   nebula. Detailed inspection of a relevant infrared image of S106 reveal
   hundreds of low-mass brown dwarf stars lurking in the nebula's gas.
   S106 spans about 2 light-years and lies about 2000 light-years away
   toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus).

                    Tomorrow's picture: Andromeda Station
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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