Astrohaus
Travel the Cosmos on an Astrohaus Rocket!
19/07/2020
ASTRO MARVELS ISSUE 1: STELLAR NEBULAS
Stellar Nebulas are some of the most beautiful astronomical phenomena. These nebulae are stellar nurseries that host the perfect conditions for star formation. Not only do these nebulae form stars, but they also form intricute shapes that to us look like things commonly found on Earth, such as: The Butterfly, Eagle, Eye and Crab nebulas to name a few.
These nebulae consist mostly of Hydrogen and Helium, the two most abundant elements in the Universe, along with a small amount of other heavier elements. In Cosmology, the study of the cosmos, we consider any element heavier than Helium a metal.
Most of this star formation fuel was made shortly after the big bang! As the Universe expanded in size and began to cool, Hydrogen, Helium, and a small amount of Lithium were cast out into the universe. Later giving birth to the first stars once enough hydrogen gas could cool down enough for stellar gas to get dense enough to collect and form baby stars.
Eventually nebulas will run out of elements to fuse into stars. However, the oldest and largest stars inside these nebulae will eventually implode, fuse heavier elements, explode and consequently expel their stellar guts into space reintroducing gas and new materials back into the system that created them.
We call the explosion of stars Supernova which we will cover in another edition of Astro Marvels!
Thanks for Reading!
**p