Reflection nebula

Clouds of interstellar dust which reflect the light of nearby stars

In astronomy, reflection nebulae are clouds of interstellar dust which might reflect the light of a nearby star or stars. The energy from the nearby stars is insufficient to ionize the gas of the nebula to create an emission nebula, but is sufficient to make the dust visible via scattering effects. Thus, the frequency spectrum shown by reflection nebulae is similar to that of the illuminating stars.

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