Stunning 3D Simulation of Star-Forming Region Sh 2-106 Nebula

This is an episode of Hubblecast, which takes viewers on a tour of the compact star-forming region Sh 2-106. Its hourglass shape is caused by the final, violent phases of a star's formation in the middle of the gaseous nebula. This episode explains some of the science behind Hubble's observations and brings them to life with detailed 3D computer visualizations. 
credit: ESA source: http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/heic1118a/
video uploaded by djxatlanta on Dec 15, 2011

The movie below presents a visualization of the star-forming region known as Sh 2-106 or S 106 for short. This unique three-dimensional view (seen here in "2D") helps our minds interpret the realization that many of the objects contained within astronomical images are not at the same distance, but, in fact, spread across light-years of space. The Hubble image is augmented with additional field-of-view from the Subaru Infrared Telescope. The stars and the lobes of glowing gas from the Hubble/Subaru two-dimensional image have been separated using both scientific knowledge and artistic license to create the depth in the movie. Of note, the relative distances between stars and the nebula have been greatly compressed. 
 credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon, T. Borders, L. Frattare, Z. Levay, F. Summers (Viz 3D team, STScI) and M. Kornmesser
sources: http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/heic1118b/ and http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/heic1118e/ 
video uploaded by djxatlanta on Dec 15, 2011

Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 has captured this image of a giant cloud of hydrogen gas illuminated by a bright young star. The image shows how violent the end stages of the star-formation process can be, with the young object shaking up its stellar nursery. 


Despite the celestial colors of this picture, there is nothing peaceful about star forming region Sh 2-106, or S106 for short. A devilish young star, named S106 IR, lies in it and ejects material at high speed, which disrupts the gas and dust around it. The star has a mass about 15 times that of the Sun and is in the final stages of its formation. It will soon quiet down by entering the main sequence, the adult stage of stellar life. 


For now, S106 IR remains embedded in its parent cloud, but it is rebelling against it. The material spewing off the star not only gives the cloud its hourglass shape but also makes the hydrogen gas in it very hot and turbulent. The resulting intricate patterns are clearly visible in this Hubble image. 


The young star also heats up the surrounding gas, making it reach temperatures of 10 000 degrees Celsius. The star's radiation ionizes the hydrogen lobes, making them glow. The light from this glowing gas is colored blue in this image. 


Separating these regions of glowing gas is a cooler, thick lane of dust, appearing red in the image. This dark material almost completely hides the ionizing star from view, but the young object can still be seen peeking through the widest part of the dust lane. 


S106 was the 106th object to be catalogued by the astronomer Stewart Sharpless in the 1950s. It is a few thousand light-years distant in the direction of Cygnus (The Swan). The cloud itself is relatively small by the standards of star-forming regions, around 2 light-years along its longest axis. This is about half the distance between the Sun and Proxima Centauri, our nearest stellar neighbor. credit: NASA, ESA, Digitized Sky Survey 2, NAOJ, Nick Risinger and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); music: John Dyson (from the album Moonwind)