NGC 1931, the Fly Nebula (left side) is an emission and reflection nebula, and has been referred to as a miniature version of the Orion Nebula, as it shares some of the same characteristics. There is a smaller version of M42's "Trapezium" in the hot, young star cluster in the centre of the emission nebula. It is about 3 arcmins in size and is 4000 - 7000 light years from Earth.
IC 417, the Spider Nebula (center right) is an emission nebula and star forming region. The nebula contains a young open cluster (Stock 8), and is energized by its hot, massive blue stars which are still embedded in glowing hydrogen gas. The bluish clouds of gas at the top of the image are locations of new star formation.
The nebula radiates all of its light in isolated emission lines. The most prominent lines in the visible spectral range are Hα and [OIII], which were recorded exclusively to capture the image shown above. This is a "near-natural color" composition. The following mixture was used:
Auriga South, telelens photograph.
NGC 1931 - Fly Nebula and IC 417 - Spider Nebula in Hα, which is part of this image.
Exposure Data
