Origin of Nebulae

Nebulae are said to have 2 different origins.

Nebulae created from the materials of the Universe itself,

• Soon after the birth of Universe , atoms are created in the Universe and from these atoms the first dust and gas clouds are formed.
• The space between the stars within a galaxy is termed as interstellar space. This space is filled with molecules of gases and dust particles formed from the atoms.
• However, the density of this cloud of dust and gas is not uniform. Those regions which have a higher density are called molecular clouds. A molecular cloud comprises a large quantity of hydrogen, around 25 percent of helium and a small quantity of heavier elements.
• When the size and density of a molecular cloud increases to a certain level, then the condition is just right for the development of a star. At this stage the molecular clouds are termed as Nebulae.

Nebulae created from the matters ejected by the exploding stars,

The matters thrown out from the dying and exploding stars or supernova (later stage of star) gets clustered together to form clouds of dust and other particles forming Nebulae.

A nebula can be a mixture of primordial material as well as new material from previous stars.

Life Cycle of Stars – First Stage (Nebulae)

Universe consists of many mysterious objects, Galaxies which consists of many solar systems with planets revolving around a center star. There are galaxies with more than one star. Sun is one such stars. So how this star form? Will it stay in the universe forever without end? Follow this blog to get answers to these questions.



Like any living creatures in this world, star also has birth and death. It has a huge life cycle which may cover billions of years.

Stage 1 - Nebulae - The Dust of Stars

Nebulae are considered as the birth of stars. It consists of clouds of dust and gas from which planets and stars are born. Gases may include Hydrogen and Helium and are cool and spread out compared to gases in stars which are hot and dense. In fact gases in Nebulae are very less dense such that water is considered to be 1,000,000,000,000,000 times denser than the gas in Nebulae.

Nebulae got its name from its shape – like a ring. It is also called star dust because the gases in Nebulae are got from dying stars and it is used in forming new stars.

What makes Nebulae glow? There are 3 types of nebulae depending on its glowing color.

Emission Nebulae: Emission nebulae glow greenish-yellow and red. This is caused by the nearby presence of one or more extremely hot stars. The ultraviolet radiation from the stars causes the hydrogen and oxygen of the nebulae to glow.

Radiation Nebulae: Reflection nebulae glow bluish. They reflect the bluish light emitted by one or more cooler stars in it.

Dark Nebulae: They appear as dark patches due to the absence of nearby stars to light up its gases.

So want to know about the Nebulae nearest to our Planet. Yup, Helix is the Nebulae nearest to earth which is lies about 650 light-years away towards the constellation of Aquarius and spans about 2.5 light-years. Helix Nebula is given a technical designation of NGC 7293. It is created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star.

The above picture is a composite of images released from the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope and wide-angle images from the Mosaic Camera on the WIYN 0.9-m Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observat.