Space SciComm | Writer | Speaker | Producer | NGO Founder - Interpreter at H.R. MacMillan Space Centre/Trottier Observatory.
True, there is a Heart Nebula - perfectly good choice for Valentine's. But I always thought the Trifid Nebula (Messier 20) looked more like an anatomical Heart! The Trifid Nebula is so cool because it's 3 types of nebula in one - an emission nebula (emitting light), a reflection nebula (reflecting light of new born stars), and a dark nebula (absorbing light) all wrapped up in one. The nebula lies at about 4000 light years distance in the constellation of Sagittarius toward the centre of the galaxy from our vantage point. At a radius of 21 light years, the nebula is a stellar nursery of newly forming stars and solar systems! Image Credit - European Southern Observatory #space #wonder #scicomm