A hole in the nebula, blown by the bright star just to the left (IMAGE)

UK Space Agency

A hole in the nebula, blown by the bright star just to the left

Caption

When this dark region on the nebula NGC1999 was observed in visible light (inset), and from ground-based infrared telescopes (main image, green/blue) it was assumed to be caused by a dark cloud of cold dust. But Herschel’s far-infrared observations (main image, red/yellow) also showed a dark area, telling astronomers that there really is nothing there – it is a hole in the nebula, blown by the bright star just to the left. Image credit: ESA/Herschel/PACS/HOPS/NOAO (main image) ; NASA/ESA/STScI (inset)

Credit

Image credit: ESA/Herschel/PACS/HOPS/NOAO (main image) ; NASA/ESA/STScI (inset)

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