As flimsy cosmic
petals, these clouds of interstellar dust and gas have blossomed 1,300
light-years away in the fertile star fields of the constellation Cepheid. Sometimes
called the Iris Nebula and duly cataloged as NGC 7023, is not the only nebula
in the sky to evoke the imagery of flowers.
This extraordinary
image shows the range of colors and symmetries of the Iris Nebula in great
detail. Among Iris , dusty nebular material surrounds a hot young star. The
dominant color of the brighter reflection nebula is blue, characteristic of
dust grains reflecting starlight. The Central filaments of the dusty clouds
glow with a faint reddish photoluminescence caused by dust grains become
radiation ultraviolet invisible star in visible red light.
The observations
indicate that this nebula infrared may contain complex carbon molecules known
as PAHs.
The bright blue part of
the Iris Nebula is about six light-years across.
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