Nebulae

Clouds of light

A nebula is a nursery — a cloud of gas and dust where stars are born, or the shell of one that just died. Most are invisible to the naked eye, but a scope and a dark sky reveal them.

The classics

orion nebula    m42 · naked-eye in winter
ring nebula      m57 · a smoke ring in lyra
lagoon nebula    m8  · summer, sagittarius
crab nebula      m1  · a supernova's remains

Why they matter

Every atom in your body was forged in a star. A nebula is the before, and sometimes the after.