Space - Red Spider Nebula: towering cosmic shock waves
Space · 0:44
In the constellation Sagittarius, the planetary nebula NGC 6537, known as the Red Spider Nebula, displays four prominent leg-like lobes of gas stretching into space. Powered by a searingly hot central stellar core that cast off its outer layers, fierce winds blast outward at thousands of kilometres per second. When these winds slam into the surrounding interstellar gas, they create gigantic, wave-like ridges estimated to reach 100 billion kilometres high. Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope reveal this dynamic clash in remarkable detail.
Source: ESA/Webb
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