                        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.

                                2023 April 20
     See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                        The Dark Seahorse in Cepheus
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Herman

   Explanation: Spanning light-years, this suggestive shape known as the
   Seahorse Nebula appears in silhouette against a rich, luminous
   background of stars. Seen toward the royal northern constellation of
   Cepheus, the dusty, obscuring clouds are part of a Milky Way molecular
   cloud some 1,200 light-years distant. It is also listed as Barnard 150
   (B150), one of 182 dark markings of the sky cataloged in the early 20th
   century by astronomer E. E. Barnard. Packs of low mass stars are
   forming within, but their collapsing cores are only visible at long
   infrared wavelengths. Still, the colorful stars of Cepheus add to this
   pretty, galactic skyscape.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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