﻿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 July 26 [2]A sprawling nebula is pictured with gold tinted gas covering the top, blue, the middle, and dark brown the bottom. Stars cover the frame but are most prominent near the bottom. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. IC 4628: The Prawn Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Daniel Stern Explanation: South of [4]Antares, in the tail of the nebula-rich constellation [5]Scorpius, lies [6]emission nebula IC 4628. Nearby hot, [7]massive stars, millions of years young, [8]irradiate the nebula with invisible [9]ultraviolet light, stripping electrons from atoms. The electrons eventually recombine with the atoms to produce the [10]visible nebular glow, dominated by the red emission of hydrogen. At an estimated distance of 6,000 light-years, the [11]region shown is about 250 [12]light-years across, spanning over three full moons [13]on the sky. The nebula is also [14]cataloged as Gum 56 for Australian astronomer [15]Colin Stanley Gum, but seafood-loving deep sky-enthusiasts might know this cosmic cloud as the [16]Prawn [17]Nebula. The [18]graceful color image is a new astronomical composition taken over several nights in April from [19]Rio Hurtado, [20]Chile. Tomorrow's picture: galaxies in the river __________________________________________________________________ [21]< | [22]Archive | [23]Submissions | [24]Index | [25]Search | [26]Calendar | [27]RSS | [28]Education | [29]About APOD | [30]Discuss | [31]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [32]Robert Nemiroff ([33]MTU) & [34]Jerry Bonnell ([35]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [36]Specific rights apply. [37]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [38]ASD at [39]NASA / [40]GSFC, [41]NASA Science Activation & [42]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2307/Prawn_Stern_3800.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/messierchaser/ 4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060714.html 5. https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1340d/ 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_nebula 7. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve 8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_II_region 9. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves 10. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight 11. https://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso1535a/ 12. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/ 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130801.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060519.html 15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Gum 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prawn 17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prawn_Nebula 18. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cui2J5BOftH/ 19. https://youtu.be/NKXFq0LBPgU 20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230725.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 30. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230726 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230727.html 32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 34. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 35. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 37. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 38. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 41. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 42. http://www.mtu.edu/