The distribution of the ionizing stars cannot well explain such an intriguing shape. The measured motions indicate the action of stellar winds and that the ionized gas forms a rotating system. The reason for such a peculiar shape and motion pattern is probably a collision between two interstellar clouds. The gas in the clouds is highly compressed during the collision, triggering in this way the formation of the luminous stars that are now ionizing the nebula. The two teams are now developing a new model, based on numerical computer simulations, to understand better the intricacies of the collision process, and thus how N119 became such a beautiful spiral nebula.
North is up and East is left.
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