Back to Glossary

Nebula

A nebula is a giant cloud of gas (mostly hydrogen and helium) and cosmic dust situated between stars in the interstellar medium. Nebulae serve as sites of stellar birth and death—including emission nebulae that glow from ionized gas, reflection nebulae that scatter starlight, and dark nebulae that obscure background stars.

Source: science.nasa.gov

APODs including "Nebula"

Lynds Dark Nebula 1251

Lynds Dark Nebula 1251

10/07/2025

A Beautiful Trifid

A Beautiful Trifid

09/07/2025

Ou4: The Giant Squid Nebula

Ou4: The Giant Squid Nebula

05/07/2025

Messier 109

Messier 109

27/06/2025

The Seagull Nebula

The Seagull Nebula

26/06/2025

Rubin's First Look: A Sagittarius Skyscape

Rubin's First Look: A Sagittarius Skyscape

25/06/2025

W5: Pillars of Star Formation

W5: Pillars of Star Formation

23/06/2025

Rosette Nebula Deep Field

Rosette Nebula Deep Field

17/06/2025

Between Scylla and Charybdis: A Double Cosmic Discovery

Between Scylla and Charybdis: A Double Cosmic Discovery

09/06/2025

NGC 6302: The Butterfly Nebula

NGC 6302: The Butterfly Nebula

06/06/2025

Veil Nebula: Wisps of an Ancient Supernova

Veil Nebula: Wisps of an Ancient Supernova

02/06/2025

Zeta and Rho Ophiuchi with Milky Way

Zeta and Rho Ophiuchi with Milky Way

27/05/2025

Milky Way over Maunakea

Milky Way over Maunakea

20/05/2025

Messier 101

Messier 101

16/05/2025

NGC 1360: The Robin's Egg Nebula

NGC 1360: The Robin's Egg Nebula

14/05/2025

Gaia Reconstructs a Top View of our Galaxy

Gaia Reconstructs a Top View of our Galaxy

13/05/2025

Gaia Reconstructs a Side View of our Galaxy

Gaia Reconstructs a Side View of our Galaxy

12/05/2025

M1: The Incredible Expanding Crab

M1: The Incredible Expanding Crab

08/05/2025

Galaxy Wars: M81 versus M82

Galaxy Wars: M81 versus M82

07/05/2025

Gum 37 and the Southern Tadpoles

Gum 37 and the Southern Tadpoles

28/04/2025

IC 418: The Spirograph Nebula

IC 418: The Spirograph Nebula

27/04/2025

NGC 6164: A Dragon's Egg

NGC 6164: A Dragon's Egg

24/04/2025

The Orion Nebula in Visible and Infrared

The Orion Nebula in Visible and Infrared

20/04/2025

Halo of the Cat's Eye

Halo of the Cat's Eye

16/04/2025

Planetary Nebula NGC 1514 from Webb

Planetary Nebula NGC 1514 from Webb

15/04/2025

38 Hours with the M81 Group

38 Hours with the M81 Group

10/04/2025

Star Formation in the Pacman Nebula

Star Formation in the Pacman Nebula

26/03/2025

LDN 1235: The Shark Nebula

LDN 1235: The Shark Nebula

18/03/2025

Thor's Helmet

Thor's Helmet

17/03/2025

The Protostars within Lynds 483

The Protostars within Lynds 483

13/03/2025