Stunning NASA Image - Starlight slowly 'eating' a wandering cloud of gas and space dust

Amazing NASA picture captures starlight slowly ‘eating’ a wandering cloud of gas and space dust

In a stunning photograph obtained by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope, starlight can be seen slowly destroying a wandering cloud of gas and dust.

The image is taken of an area of the well-known Pleiades star cluster and features light from the star Merope.

Scientists believe that during the past 100,000 years the cloud has by chance moved close to the star and created the dramatic effect, ensuring the cloud is slowly ‘eaten’ away.

Pressure of the star’s light significantly repels the dust in the nebula, and smaller dust particles are repelled more strongly. 

As a result, parts of the dust cloud have become stratified, and now point toward the star

The closest particles are the largest and the least affected by the radiation pressure. 

This energetic starlight will eventually lead to the complete destruction of the dust cloud.

The star Merope lies just off the upper left edge of this picture.

Reflection nebulae do not glow themselves but are only visible because of light from nearby bright stars scattering after striking dust particles. 

Usually the nearby stars are not hot enough to cause ionisation in the gas of the nebula but are bright enough to give sufficient scattering to make the dust visible. 

Since wavelengths in the blue spectrum are scattered more readily than red, reflection nebula tend to look blue. This is the same scattering process that gives us blue skies and red sunsets. 

Some of the most spectacular reflection nebulae are those surrounding the stars of the Pleiades, as in this picture.

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Daily Mail UK