SH2-106

Sh2-106 is an emission nebula and a star formation region in the constellation Cygnus. It is a H II region estimated to be around 2,000 light years from Earth, in an isolated area of the Milky Way.

In the center of the nebula is a young and massive star that emits jets of hot gas from its poles, forming the bipolar structure. Dust surrounding the star is also ionized by the star. The nebula spans about 2 light-years across.

The central star, a source of infrared radiation usually referred to as S106 IR or S106 IRS 4, is believed to have been formed only 100,000 years ago. It is a massive star, approximately 15 solar masses. Two jets of matter streaming from its poles heat surrounding matter to a temperature of around 10,000 °C. Dust that is not ionized by the star's jets reflect light from the star. With an estimated surface temperature of 37,000°K, it is classified as a type O8 star, ejecting material at around 100 km/s.

Studies of images has revealed that the star-forming region has also created hundreds of low-mass brown dwarf stars and protostars.

This Hubble image is comprised of 2 separate images taken with different IR filters (F110 and F160) - each image captures it's own level of detail.

The F110 channel was mapped to Orange while the F160 was mapped to Cyan.

Image produced from raw data downloaded from MAST: the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes

Original image by ESA/Hubble, alignment, integration and colour mapping by Arc Fortnight.