Nebulas in the Outfield – The NGC 6559 Region—an Interstellar Baseball Glove

Lying approximately 5,000 light years from Earth and, visually, is a neighbor of the much larger Messier 8, the Lagoon Nebula, the region around NGC 6559 is diverse and intricate. A star-forming region primarily comprising red ionized hydrogen gas, the area also contains lanes of cold, black molecular dust. The most prominent of these (seen in the “palm” of the glove) is often referred to as the Chinese Dragon Nebula.

The locale also contains several blue reflection nebulas sprinkled around the frame—such as NGC 6559 itself and vdB 115 in the top-center of the image. It is thought that the massive stars in nebula will eventually emit enough energy to sweep the dust and gas away leaving a cluster of stars behind. This gas and dust also contains heavier elements like iron, silicon, and carbon that may eventually go on to be part of new stars and planets.

There are also several Sharpless objects in the picture. Sh2-29 represents, again, the “palm” of the gl-ove containing the Chinese Dragon (with NGC 6559 itself just adjacent to it on the left). Sh2-31 is the tip of the “middle finger.” And Sh2-32 is the “index finger.”