                        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.

                               2024 January 10

                     The Light, the Dark, and the Dusty
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Gábor Galambos

   Explanation: This colorful skyscape spans about three full moons across
   nebula rich starfields along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward
   the royal northern constellation Cepheus. Near the edge of the region's
   massive molecular cloud some 2,400 light-years away, bright reddish
   emission region Sharpless (Sh)2-155 is at the center of the frame, also
   known as the Cave Nebula. About 10 light-years across the cosmic cave's
   bright walls of gas are ionized by ultraviolet light from the hot young
   stars around it. Dusty bluish reflection nebulae, like vdB 155 at the
   left, and dense obscuring clouds of dust also abound on the
   interstellar canvas. Astronomical explorations have revealed other
   dramatic signs of star formation, including the bright reddish fleck of
   Herbig-Haro (HH) 168. At the upper left in the frame, the Herbig-Haro
   object emission is generated by energetic jets from a newborn star.

                       Tomorrow's picture: unforgotten
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

