The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has unveiled a stunning image of the cosmic butterfly, the star forming region Westerhout 40 (W40).
The named formation is located at a distance of approximately 1420 light years from us in the constellation Serpens. The giant structure, which looks like a butterfly, is a nebula - a colossal cloud of gas and dust.
The “wings” of the amazing cosmic butterfly are bubbles of hot interstellar gas emanating from the hottest and most massive stars in a given region.
The published image was transmitted to Earth from the Spitzer Space Telescope. This device, launched back in 2003, is designed to observe space in the infrared range.
It is noted that the presented image is formed on the basis of four images taken by the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) tool. Photographing was carried out at different wavelengths.
Westerhout 40 is a clear example of how the formation of new stars can lead to the destruction of the clouds of gas and dust that helped them to be born.
Source: 3dnews.ru