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.

                              2021 February 11

                          Cygnus Mosaic 2010 - 2020
          Image Credit & Copyright: J-P Metsavainio (Astro Anarchy)

   Explanation: In brush strokes of interstellar dust and glowing gas,
   this beautiful skyscape is painted across the plane of our Milky Way
   Galaxy near the northern end of the Great Rift and the constellation
   Cygnus the Swan. Composed over a decade with 400 hours of image data,
   the broad mosaic spans an impressive 28x18 degrees across the sky.
   Alpha star of Cygnus, bright, hot, supergiant Deneb lies at the left.
   Crowded with stars and luminous gas clouds Cygnus is also home to the
   dark, obscuring Northern Coal Sack Nebula and the star forming emission
   regions NGC 7000, the North America Nebula and IC 5070, the Pelican
   Nebula, just left and a little below Deneb. Many other nebulae and star
   clusters are identifiable throughout the cosmic scene. Of course, Deneb
   itself is also known to northern hemisphere skygazers for its place in
   two asterisms, marking a vertex of the Summer Triangle, the top of the
   Northern Cross.

                       Tomorrow's picture: eye spiral
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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