IC 63 nebula is a magical and slightly weird nebula.

IC 63 nebula is a magical and slightly weird nebula.

In the IC 63 nebula about 550 light-years away from Cassiopeia, this is an amazing and slightly weird nebula. IC 63, also known as the ghost of Cassiopeia, is formed by the radiation of the unpredictable changing star Gamma Cassiopeia nearby. Cassiopeia (constellation), named after the vain queen in Greek mythology, forms an easily recognizable "W" shape in the night sky. At the center of the W galaxy is a striking star called Cassiopeia.

The magical Cassiopeia is a blue and white subgiant surrounded by a gas disk. The mass of this star is 19 times that of the sun, and its brightness is 65000 times that of the sun. It rotates at an amazing speed of 6.5438+0.6 million kilometers per hour-200 times faster than our home star. This crazy rotation gives it a squashed appearance. Rapid rotation will cause the star mass to explode and form a disk. This quality loss is related to the observed brightness change.

The gamma radiation of Cassiopeia is very strong, even affecting IC 63, sometimes called ghost nebula, which is located a few light years away from the star. IC 63 can be seen in this photo taken by NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope.

The strange colors of nebulae show how nebulae are affected by powerful radiation from distant stars. Hydrogen in IC 63 is irradiated by ultraviolet rays of Cassiopeia gamma rays, which causes its electrons to gain energy and then release it in the form of hydrogen radiation-the red part can be seen in this picture.

Hydrogen-α radiation makes IC 63 an emission nebula, but we also see blue light in this photo. The light emitted by Cassiopeia is reflected by dust particles in the nebula, which means that IC 63 is also a reflection nebula.

Under the influence of Cassiopeia ultraviolet radiation, this colorful ghost nebula is slowly dissipating. However, IC 63 is not the only celestial body influenced by powerful stars. It is part of a larger nebula region near Cassiopeia, which is about 2 degrees in the sky and about 4 times as wide as the full moon.

This area is best seen from the northern hemisphere in autumn and winter. Although it is high in the sky and can be seen from Europe all the year round, it is very dark, so it needs a considerable telescope and a dark sky to observe it.

From outside the earth's atmosphere, the Hubble telescope gives us a sight invisible to the naked eye. This photo is probably the most detailed photo taken by IC 63, which perfectly shows Hubble's ability.