Sharpless 2-106, Sh2-106 or S106 for short, a bipolar star-forming region, lies nearly 2,000 light-years from us. The nebula measures several light-years in length. It appears in a relatively isolated region of the Milky Way galaxy.
A massive, young star, IRS 4 (Infrared Source 4), is responsible for
the furious activity we see in the nebula. Twin lobes of super-hot
gas, glowing blue in this image, stretch outward from the central
star. This hot gas creates the two lobes. A ring of dust and gas
orbiting the star acts like a belt, cinching the expanding nebula into
an "hourglass" shape. Hubble's sharp resolution reveals
ripples and ridges in the gas as it interacts with the cooler
interstellar medium.
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