What material primarily constitutes the diffuse gas and dust clouds comprising nebulae?
Answer
Hydrogen and helium gas along with fine cosmic dust.
Nebulae are fundamentally composed of the lightest and most abundant elements in the universe, primarily hydrogen and helium gas. This gaseous component is mixed with fine cosmic dust. This mixture resides within the interstellar medium (ISM), which is characterized by its extreme diffuseness—a volume of deep space equivalent to a cubic centimeter contains significantly fewer particles than the same volume of air on Earth.
Related Questions
What material primarily constitutes the diffuse gas and dust clouds comprising nebulae?How long does the glowing phase of a typical Planetary Nebula (PN) last before its gas dissipates into the ISM?Which three morphological types are identified as the most common categories for Planetary Nebulae (PNs)?How do Binary Companions influence the resulting structure of a Planetary Nebula (PN)?What two primary energetic outputs sculpt the morphology of young Emission Nebulae (H II regions)?What process lights up the interior structure of the Crab Nebula, a Supernova Remnant (SNR) from 1054?What shape tendency is predicted for PNs originating from progenitors more massive than Sun-like stars in that mass range?What surprising orderly arrangement was observed for bipolar PNs in the Milky Way’s central bulge?Why were Planetary Nebulae (PNs) historically given a misleading name unrelated to planets?In star-forming clouds, what carving mechanism is responsible for creating features like the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula?