Prawn Nebula Has Giant, Blue 'Eyes' that Cause its Gas to Glow

Scientists have captured a spectacular new image of the Prawn Nebula, reveal bright blue stars that cause the nebula's gas clouds to glow. The new picture reveals a bit more about this object in the universe.

Gum 56 is also known as IC 428 or the Prawn Nebula. A large portion of the ionization in this nebula is done by two O-type stars, which are hot blue-white stars, also known as blue giants. This type of star is actually rare in the universe, since the mass of blue giants means that they do not live for long. After about one million years, these stars will collapse in on themselves and end their lives as supernovae, as will many of the other massive stars within the nebula.

There are many newborn stars nestled within the nebula. In addition, the region is filled with enough dust and gas to create an even newer generation of stars. The regions of the nebula giving birth to new stars are visible in the image as dense clouds. The material forming these new stars includes the remains of the most massive stars from an older generation that have already ended their lives and ejected their material in violent supernova explosions.

Although this region is spectacular to look at, it's been studied very little as yet. Despite its huge size, it's often overlooked due to its faintness.

With that said, the new image may shed more light on the nebula, and tell researchers a bit more about this particular region of space.

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