The Secrets of Nebulae
by bozkurt

A nebula is a cloud of a gas and dust in space. Nebula is formed with a supernova or a red giant.
lf a nebula is formed with a supernova it is kind of messy. lf a nebula formed with a red giant the nebula has a circle shape.


First of all a nebula is a star.With time this star grows up. It can be a brown dwarf, neutron star or a black hole. Before it becomes any of them it becomes a red giant. The heat and pressure is so much that gases fall off the red giant to outer space.

A lot of gas falls really fast. Then these gases are getting close together and turn into a gas cloud. Heat and pressure combine with gases to start a fusion reaction. This fusion reaction is the beginning of a new star.

Sometimes stars explode with supernova. After this the gasses move quickly, not slowly. Colourful images are formed. This nebula is called a supernova after it is formed.

There are four main types of nebulas:

Planetary nebulas are shaped like the planets. A planetary nebula is created when a star blows off its outer layers after it has run out fuel to burn. These outer layers of gas expand into space, creating a nebula which is shaped of a ring or a bubble.

Reflection nebula does not create its own light! But the reflection nebula shines by reflecting its light by nearby stars. The brightest reflection nebulas are places where new stars are created. Sometimes gases are so thick that the new star can not be visible. Reflection nebulas are usually blue.

Emission nebulas are actually found in regions of space where new stars are formed. These nebulas absorb the light of nearby stars and reach very high temperatures. The high temperature causes them to glow. Red or pink nebula is called Emission Nebula.

A dark nebula has two names: one of them is dark nebula and other one is absorption nebula. The dust and gas are so close together inside of the cloud like a big squeeze and hugging. A dark nebula is seen but nothing can be seen behind the dark nebula because it blocks out all the light behind it.


Nebulas are seen by telescopes (like hubble). We must not forget that our sun was formed with a nebula.


Bozkurt Selvi
March 2008  (I wrote it when  I was 7 and a half years old )