Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Taurus (Tau)  ·  Contains:  23 Tau  ·  Barnard's Merope Nebula  ·  IC 349  ·  Merope  ·  The star Merope (23Tau)
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Merope and IC 349, James E.
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Merope and IC 349

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Merope and IC 349, James E.
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Merope and IC 349

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Description

Discovered visually in 1890 by astronomer E. E. Barnard, IC 349, or "Barnard's Merope Nebula" is an exceptionally bright nebulosity adjacent to the bright Pleiades star Merope. It is bright because of its close proximity to Merope - only about 3,500 times the separation of the Earth from the Sun or about 0.06 light-year. As IC 349 approaches Merope, strong starlight interacts and distorts the nebula by slowing the smaller dust particles more than the larger dust particles through "radiation pressure."

Insert of the Hubble image shows colorful rays pointing back to Merope. These rays are an optical phenomenon produced within the telescope itself and are not real.

Credit: hubblesite.org

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