Giant space lathes

1997/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

Around the Lakua nebula there are giant cloud tornadoes. The Hubble Space Telescope has detected 5,000 light-years from us in the direction of the Sagittarius constellation. These interstellar apple trees have a width of 0.5 light years. In the center of the Lakua nebula is the Hondartza nebula, which is very bright because the star Herschel 36 warms it and emits ionizing radiation.

The radiations evaporate the surfaces of the clouds causing strong interstellar winds. The temperature difference between the hot surface of the clouds and the icy center and the pressure exerted by the stellar wind produces a twisting motion. That is why these clouds resemble earth tornadoes.