Most nebulae are composed of about 90% hydrogen, 10% helium, and 0.1% heavy elements such as carbon, nitrogen, magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron. These clouds of matter are also quite large. In fact, they are among the largest objects in the galaxy.

Planetary nebulae are chemically enriched in elements produced by nuclear processing within the central star. Some are carbon-rich, with twice as much carbon as oxygen, while there is more oxygen than carbon in the Sun.

A nebula (Latin for ‘cloud’ or ‘fog’; pl. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas) is a distinct body of interstellar clouds (which can consist of cosmic dust, hydrogen, helium, molecular clouds; possibly as ionized gases).

During the early universe, atomic hydrogen made up the majority of gas in younger galaxies. Stars form as interstellar gas falls into galaxies, creating hydrogen atoms which are then converted to molecular hydrogen. This directly fuels the birth of stars.

The Short Answer: A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas in space. Some nebulae (more than one nebula) come from the gas and dust thrown out by the explosion of a dying star, such as a supernova. Other nebulae are regions where new stars are beginning to form.

The number of neutrons in the atoms of a given element varies. Heavy elements can be formed from light ones by nuclear fusion reactions; these are nuclear reactions in which atomic nuclei merge together.

Most emission nebulae are the sites of recent star formation, where hot, energetic radiation streaming from the newborn stars sculpts a nebula’s bright and dark clouds into intriguing (and sometimes mystifying) shapes.

An emission nebula is a nebula formed of ionized gases that emit light of various wavelengths. The most common source of ionization is high-energy ultraviolet photons emitted from a nearby hot star.

How Do Stars Form in Nebulas? Stars are born in clouds of gas and dust. One such stellar nursery is the Orion Nebula, an enormous cloud of gas and dust many light-years across. One day, this core becomes hot enough to ignite fusion and a star is born.

Stars shine by burning hydrogen into helium in their cores, and later in their lives create heavier elements. Most stars have small amounts of heavier elements like carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and iron, which were created by stars that existed before them.

A star is in balance between two opposite forces. The star’s gravity tries to squeeze the star into the smallest, tightest ball possible. The collapse happens so quickly that it creates enormous shock waves that cause the outer part of the star to explode!” That resulting explosion is a supernova.

– A nebula is an accumulation of dust and gas (a cloud) that is sometimes visible in the night and eventually collapses on itself creating a star. – The other way this type of nebula is formed is when a white dwarf star accretes material from other nearby stars.

This nebula is found in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a companion galaxy of the Milky Way. To astronomers and laymen alike the topic of star formation has always been a particularly appealing one. The reason being that important clues about our genesis lie hidden behind the veil of the dusty, and often very beautiful, star forming molecular clouds.

Other nebulae are regions where new stars are beginning to form. For this reason, some nebulae are called “star nurseries.” These towers of cosmic dust and gas make up part of the Eagle Nebula. These so-called Pillars of Creation are part of an active star-forming region within the nebula.

Those tiny dots are newly-formed stars! Nebulae are made of dust and gases—mostly hydrogen and helium. The dust and gases in a nebula are very spread out, but gravity can slowly begin to pull together clumps of dust and gas. As these clumps get bigger and bigger, their gravity gets stronger and stronger.

ALMA observations of the Orion Nebula complex provide insights into explosions at star birth. In triggered star formation, one of several events might occur to compress a molecular cloud and initiate its gravitational collapse.