NGC 261 resides within the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of our Milky Way Galaxy’s closest neighbors.
This Hubble image shows NGC 261, an emission nebula some 200,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Tucana. Image credit: NASA / ESA / L.C. Johnson, Northwestern University / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.
NGC 261 is a diffuse emission nebula located approximately 200,000 light-years away in the constellation of Tucana.
Also known as Bruck 42, ESO 29-12 or IRAS 00447-7322, the object was discovered on September 5, 1826, by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop.
“The ionized gas blazing from within this diffuse region marks NGC 261 as an emission nebula,” the Hubble astronomers said.
“It is home to numerous stars hot enough to irradiate surrounding hydrogen gas, causing the cloud to emit a pinkish-red glow.”
Hubble turned its keen eye toward NGC 261 to investigate how efficiently stars form in molecular clouds, which are extremely dense and compact regions of gas and dust.
“These clouds often consist of large amounts of molecular hydrogen — cold areas where most stars form,” the researchers explained.
“However, measuring this raw fuel of star formation in stellar nurseries is a challenge because molecular hydrogen doesn’t radiate easily.”
“Since it is difficult to detect, scientists instead trace other molecules present in the molecular clouds.”
“The Small Magellanic Cloud hosts a gas-rich environment of young stars along with trace amounts of carbon monoxide, a chemical correlated with hydrogen and often used to identify the presence of such clouds.”
The new composite image, captured by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), shows such stars in the southwest portion of the Small Magellanic Cloud where NGC 261 resides.
“The combined power of the ACS and WFC3 instruments allowed us to closely examine the nebula’s star-forming properties through its carbon monoxide content at optical and near-infrared wavelengths,” the scientists said.
“This research helps us better understand how stars form in our home galaxy and others in our Galactic neighborhood.”
