Tulip Nebula
Encyclopedia
The Tulip Nebula, or Sharpless 101 (Sh2-101) or the Cygnus Star Cloud is an emission nebula
located in the constellation Cygnus
. It is so named because it appears to resemble the outline of a tulip
when imaged photographically. It was catalogued by astronomer Stewart Sharpless in his 1959 catalog of nebulae. It lies at a distance of about 6000 ly from Earth
.
The Tulip nebula, at least in the field seen from earth, is in close proximity to microquasar Cygnus X-1
, site of one of the first suspected black holes. Cygnus X-1 is the brighter of the two stars (lower star) in close vertical proximity just to the right of the Tulip nebula in the image presented here.
Emission nebula
An emission nebula is a cloud of ionized gas emitting light of various colors. The most common source of ionization is high-energy photons emitted from a nearby hot star...
located in the constellation Cygnus
Cygnus (constellation)
Cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the Milky Way. Its name is the Latinized Hellenic word for swan. One of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, it features a prominent asterism known as the Northern Cross...
. It is so named because it appears to resemble the outline of a tulip
Tulip
The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of...
when imaged photographically. It was catalogued by astronomer Stewart Sharpless in his 1959 catalog of nebulae. It lies at a distance of about 6000 ly from Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
The Tulip nebula, at least in the field seen from earth, is in close proximity to microquasar Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1 is a well-known galactic X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus. It was discovered in 1964 during a rocket flight and is one of the strongest X-ray sources seen from Earth, producing a peak X-ray flux density of 2.3 Wm−2Hz−1...
, site of one of the first suspected black holes. Cygnus X-1 is the brighter of the two stars (lower star) in close vertical proximity just to the right of the Tulip nebula in the image presented here.