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Contributor: Rebecca Highland. Lesson ID: 10382
Dust doesn't seem like an interesting subject, does it? But put tons of dust quadrillions of miles away in space, and you've got something you won't believe! Explore to learn all about nebulae!
Watch the video below taken with the Hubble telescope.
This amazing spectacle is a nebula!
A nebula is one of astronomy's most beautiful and interesting sights!
Nebulae (pl.) are formed from stars. They also help to form stars!
When a star dies, the leftover dust is enlightened by the star's core, creating beautiful, colorful clouds.
The name nebula is from the Latin word for cloud. By definition, nebulae are clouds of dust and gas in space.
Explore nebulae as you read about Star birth and watch the two videos below.
Sometimes, nebulae don't have their own light and only reflect the light of nearby stars.
The average nebula is several light years in length.
To put that in perspective, the earth is only eight light minutes from our sun. A light year is over five quadrillion miles away! In other words, nebulae are HUGE.
Basically, nebulae are just big dust clouds that are lit up to be stunning, colorful sights that continue to fascinate astronomers!
And you thought dust was boring! Move along to the Got It? section to paint a nebula!
Supplies for the Watercolor Painting Activity
Supplies for the Glowing Sensory Bottle Project
Suggested Reading
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