APOD 3.5

Today I chose to write about the Rosette Nebula because it of how it looks and because it was on today's constellation quiz. It is located in Monoceros about 5,000 light years away and is an emission nebula with an open cluster of stars at its center. This open cluster of stars releases light from all across the electromagnetic spectrum. This light then hits the nebula and is essentially filtered out, certain wave lengths are absorbed and re-emitted in different directions whereas other wavelengths can go through unimpeded. This means that some colors show up brighter than others and the result is this stunning nebula that can be seen relatively easily.