﻿ 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. 2024 May 24 [2]A star field filled with complex dark dust and bright purple nebulas is shown. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. M78 from the Euclid Space Telescope Image Credit & [3]License: [4]ESA, [5]Euclid, [6]Euclid Consortium, [7]NASA; Processing: [8]J.-C. Cuillandre ([9]CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi Explanation: Star formation can be messy. To help find out just how messy, [10]ESA's new [11]Sun-orbiting [12]Euclid telescope recently captured the most detailed image ever of the bright star forming region M78. Near the image center, [13]M78 lies at a distance of only about 1,300 [14]light-years away and has a main glowing core that spans about 5 light-years. The [15]featured image was taken in both [16]visible and [17]infrared light. The purple tint in [18]M78's center is caused by dark [19]dust preferentially [20]reflecting the blue light of hot, young stars. Complex dust lanes and filaments can be traced through this [21]gorgeous and revealing skyscape. On the upper left is associated star forming region [22]NGC 2071, while a third region of star formation is visible on the lower right. These nebulas are all part of the vast [23]Orion Molecular Cloud Complex which can be found with even a small telescope [24]just north of Orion's belt. More Euclid Sky Candy: [25]Recent images released from Euclid Tomorrow's picture: Earth's big mystery crater __________________________________________________________________ [26]< | [27]Archive | [28]Submissions | [29]Index | [30]Search | [31]Calendar | [32]RSS | [33]Education | [34]About APOD | [35]Discuss | [36]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell ([40]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [41]Specific rights apply. [42]NASA Web Privacy, [43]Accessibility, [44]Notices; A service of: [45]ASD at [46]NASA / [47]GSFC, [48]NASA Science Activation & [49]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2405/M78_Euclid_5532.jpg 3. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/ 4. https://www.esa.int/ 5. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid 6. https://www.euclid-ec.org/ 7. https://www.nasa.gov/ 8. https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/~jcc/ 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEA_Paris-Saclay 10. https://www.esa.int/ 11. https://sci.esa.int/web/euclid/-/29537-the-second-lagrangian-point-l2 12. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210121.html 14. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/ 15. https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/05/Euclid_s_new_image_of_star-forming_region_Messier_78 16. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight/ 17. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/07_infraredwaves/ 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170124.html 19. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/D/Dust+Grain 20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflection_nebula 21. https://i.imgflip.com/eyvnj.jpg 22. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_2071 23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_molecular_cloud_complex 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150316.html 25. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid/ESA_s_Euclid_celebrates_first_science_with_sparkling_cosmic_views 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240523.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 32. https://apod.com/feed.rss 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 35. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240524 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240525.html 37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 43. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 45. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 46. https://www.nasa.gov/ 47. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 48. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 49. http://www.mtu.edu/