Among all the celestial bodies in the universe, the coolest names usually belong to nebulae. There's thAmong all the celestial bodies in the universe, the coolest names usually belong to nebulae. There's the Ghost, Glowing Eye, Lemon Slice, Rosette, Stingray, and the whimsically named Dark Doodad nebula, just to (nick)name a few. The stunningly beautiful example we're looking at here is cataloged as the Sharpless 2-106 emission nebula, but it's also called the Celestial Snow Angel for the way the 'wings' seem to form a bright frosty pattern in the cosmos. Leaving the poetic license behind, those 'wings' are actually caused by stellar winds and hot gas emitted by a massive newborn star. Dust and gas encircling the star force its outflow into two opposite lobes. At about two light years across, this is one enormous snow angel...查看更多 查看更少
