What Is Studied By Ultraviolet Astronomy?
All objects known to exist in our universe, from the nearest planet and most tenuous comet in our solar system to the farthest and most massive of the enigmatic quasars, which are probably the most distant and the oldest extragalactic objects we have observed to date, can be studied effectively in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum. Ultraviolet astronomy also provides interesting information about the interstellar medium –the space between the stars. Although one tends to think of this space as a sort of vacuum, it contains the material from which all stars are formed. Observations at ultraviolet wavelengths have shown that the very low-density material found in the interstellar medium is made in fact of rather similar composition throughout the galaxy, but that its distribution is far from homogenous. In fact, big gas bubbles have been blown into it by very strong solar winds emanating from the hot stars to be found in groups of recently formed stars. In the same way as our sun i
