What determines the color of a nebula?

The exact color depends on the temperature of the hydrogen nebula which influences the relative intensities of the hydrogen emission lines. If there were no dust, the hydrogen emission would produce shades of blue to purple, not magenta or red!

What does a nebula look like to the human eye?

In the telescope, it is a green-to-gray cloudy patch. It’s just too dim for you to see in color. There’s not enough energy to excite the cells in your retina that are responsible for color vision. If your eyes were sensitive enough, you’d see it in shades of purple and red.

Why is reflection nebula blue?

This shift in colour arises because the typical size of dust grains in the cloud are comparable to the wavelength of blue light. The result is that blue light is scattered more efficiently than longer, red wavelengths giving the characteristic blue colour for these nebulae.

Why do emission nebulae appear bluish in color?

Explanation: Reflection nebulae reflect light from a nearby star. Many small carbon grains in the nebula reflect the light. The blue color typical of reflection nebula is caused by blue light being more efficiently scattered by the carbon dust than red light.

What is the true color of the Orion Nebula?

The true color of the Trapezium region in the Great Nebula in Orion, M42, is shown to be blue-green, and best described as teal. Digital cameras can record excellent color for the Trapezium.

What color is the Cat’s eye nebula?

The inner parts of the Cat’s Eye are dominated by blue-green OIII emission, while the outer parts are red from Hα. This color gradient is very typical of many planetary nebulas. The Hubble picture, by contrast, makes the inner parts of the Cat’s Eye look red and the outer parts green.

What nebula can we see with the naked eye?

the Orion Nebula
At only 1,344 light-years away, the Orion Nebula is the closest and one of the brightest nebulae visible from Earth. This means it can be seen with the naked eye up to mid-March when viewed under dark skies.

Why are reflection nebulae blue and emission nebulae red?

Why are reflection nebulae blue and emission nebulae red? Reflection nebulae scatter blue light, and emission nebulae emit red light.