An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

English-French-Persian

فرهنگ ریشه‌شناختی اخترشناسی-اخترفیزیک

Homepage  Preliminaries  Abbreviations  Acknowledgments  References 
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Pipe Nebula
  میغ ِ پیپ  
miq-e pip
Fr.: Nébuleuse de la Pipe  

An extended complex of → molecular clouds in the constellation → Ophiuchus, apparently shaped like a smoker’s pipe, about 5° in size and located about 5° away from the → Galactic center. It has a mass of 104 solar masses, lies at a distance of about 130 pc, and is among the closest molecular clouds to Earth. The Pipe Nebula includes a number of → dark nebulae, including Barnard 59, 65, 66, 67, 77, 244, and 256. It is of particular interest because of the almost complete lack of
→ star formation within it. This cloud is an extremely rare example of a relatively massive molecular cloud that may be in a state of evolution prior to the onset of significant star-forming activity.

See also: → pipe; → nebula.