The second is a smaller list of about 500 stars, all ionizing stars that are known to be associated with HII regions: large regions
of ionized hydrogen gas.
Blue, green, and red colors are attributed to the B - band, R - band, and H - alpha (emission line
from ionized hydrogen gas) images, respectively.
One strong possibility is that the ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the first - generation galaxies in the one - billion - year - old
Universe ionized the hydrogen gas.
This glow is created as ultraviolet light emitted by hot young stars embedded within the
clouds ionizes the hydrogen gas, causing it to give off its own light.
The team used MagAO and VisAO to look for red light
from ionized hydrogen gas to trace how the strong UV light and wind from Theta 1 Ori C affects the disks around its neighboring stars.
This giant diffuse nebula is one of the largest H II regions (composed of
ionized hydrogen gas) in our Milky Way galaxy.