Seagull Nebula IC 2177 Shows Off Its Wings

Entire Seagull Nebula

Nebulae or nebulas are regions in space where astronomers believe stars are formed. Nebulae are composed of clouds gas and dust that start to clump together to form stars and even planets.

Just like the clouds in the sky, these nebulae also seem to form various forms that resemble animals or things such as the Seagull Nebula or IC 2177.

The Seagull Nebula are clouds of gas that resemble the head of a seagull with both its wings spread out. This was previously also imaged by ESO’s La Silla Observatory late last year. The bright color manifested by the nebula is caused by strong ultraviolet radiation from a very hot young star (HD 53367) in its core . The whole form of the seagull is made up of three clouds of gas that when observed forms it's head, left wing and right wing.

The Seagull Nebula can be located on the border between the constellations of Monoceros (The Unicorn) and Canis Major (The Great Dog). It is near Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.

A new image of IC 2177 was released by the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile. It focused on the intricate structure of the Seagull's wings which is formed by dark and glowing red clouds.