How do emission and reflection nebulae differ?(1 point)

Question

hard line edges
interactions with light
contain remnants of stars
the presence of young stars

Answer 1

Emission and reflection nebulae differ primarily in their interactions with light.

• Emission nebulae are regions of gas that emit their own light due to the ionization of the gas by nearby hot stars. The intense radiation from these stars excites the atoms in the nebula, causing them to emit light at specific wavelengths.

• Reflection nebulae, on the other hand, do not emit their own light. Instead, they shine by reflecting the light of nearby stars. The dust and gas in a reflection nebula scatter the light from these stars, which can make the nebula appear bluish due to the scattering of shorter (blue) wavelengths of light.

So, the key difference lies in how they interact with light: emission nebulae produce their own light, while reflection nebulae only reflect light from stars.