December 20, 2010 - A Peek at the Pelican

Published in cooperation with The Planetary Society

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The Week in Space

December 20-26, 2010

A Peek at the Pelican The Pelican Nebula, or IC 5070, is a large emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. In wide-field long-exposure images, this glowing region of ionized gas and dark dust clouds takes on an uncanny resemblance to the bird for which it was named. Like many emission nebulae, IC 5070 is the site of star birth, and radiation from nearby newborn stars is indeed buffeting the Pelican like a strong shore breeze. In this close-up image by amateur astronomer Antonio Fernandez of Spain, the head and neck of the Pelican are revealed as the boundary between hot hydrogen gas and cooler sulfur, riddled with wispy tendrils that contain individual protostars at their tips. Dark, obscuring molecular clouds add dramatic contrast to this star-forming region 2,000 light-years away.

Image credit: Antonio Fernandez / www.afernandez.net