Nebulas: The Birth of Stars
A nebula is a cloud of dust and gas in the form of interstellar medium. Believe it or not, the cloud eventually becomes a star. There are four different types of nebulas:
Planetary Nebula: The Planetary Nebula is named after the round green look which makes them look like planets. This nebula consists of gas from a star that sheds its outer layers.
Emission Nebula: The Emission Nebula has a sun in it or behind it, which gives off high-energy ultraviolet radiation. This causes the clouds to glow and give off light.
Reflection Nebula: A Reflection Nebula is similar to emission nebulas but more rare. They reflect sunlight from a neighboring sun. Only the blue light goes through, giving it a blue color.
Dust Tail: At up to 10 kilometers long of dust particles the size of smoke this part of the comet is the most outstanding part of the comet to the unaided human eye.
Dark Nebula [ooo…]:The Dark Nebula is dark because it reflects little to no light, due to its dust particles. But it does give off infrared radiation and is detected through that.
Stars: The Building Blocks of Solar Systems
Stars, also known as suns, contain immense amounts of energy [a bit more than your kitchen stove's energy] and are the building blocks of solar systems.
A star or stars are created when a hot cloud of dust condenses. When this the cloud becomes hot and dense enough, fusion of hydrogen into helium begins. When this fusion begins, it is officially [or technically] a star.
Energy is released from the center of a sun. This energy from the core of the sun reaches out in the form of radiation, light, and heat. When the sun releases its energy, it also releases a stream of atomic particles known as solar wind.
The center of the sun is called the core and that is where energy is released. Then sun's surface is known as the photosphere, meaning sphere of light. The photosphere contains dark spots known as sunspots. Above the photosphere is a thin layer of gas called the chromosphere. On the sun's surface are loops of gas called prominences.
