                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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.

                               2022 October 29

                       LDN 673: Dark Clouds in Aquila
      Image Credit & Copyright: Frank Sackenheim, Josef Poepsel, Stefan
                    Binnewies (Capella Observatory Team)

   Explanation: Part of a dark expanse that splits the crowded plane of
   our Milky Way galaxy, the Aquila Rift arcs through planet Earth's skies
   near bright star Altair. In eerie silhouette against the Milky Way's
   faint starlight, its dusty molecular clouds likely contain raw material
   to form hundreds of thousands of stars and astronomers search the dark
   clouds for telltale signs of star birth. This telescopic close-up looks
   toward the region at a fragmented Aquila dark cloud complex identified
   as LDN 673, stretching across a field of view slightly wider than the
   full moon. In the scene, visible indications of energetic outflows
   associated with young stars include the small red tinted nebulosity RNO
   109 above and right of center, and Herbig-Haro object HH32 below. These
   dark clouds might look scary, but they're estimated to be some 600
   light-years away. At that distance, this field of view spans about 7
   light-years.

                 Tomorrow's picture: a dark and spooky night
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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