Astronomy Picture of the Day
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Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2013 January 14
NGC 2170: Celestial Still Life
Image Credit & Copyright:
Ignacio
Diaz Bobillo
Explanation:
In this celestial
still life
composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula
NGC 2170
shines left of image center.
Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined
by other bluish
reflection nebulae, a
red
emission region, many dark
absorption nebulae,
and a backdrop of
colorful stars.
Like the common household items
still life painters
often choose for their subjects, these clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars
are also commonly found in this setting -
a massive, star-forming molecular cloud in the constellation
Monoceros.
The giant
molecular
cloud,
Mon R2,
is impressively close,
estimated
to be only 2,400
light-years or so away.
At that distance, this
canvas would be over 40 light-years across.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(
MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (
UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman
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