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 March 19

                         Central Lagoon in Infrared
       Image Credit & License: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Data Archive: MAST,
                        Processing: Alexandra Nachman

   Explanation: Stars fill this infrared view, spanning 4 light-years
   across the center of the Lagoon Nebula. Visible light images show the
   glowing gas and obscuring dust clouds that dominate the scene. But this
   infrared image, constructed from Hubble Space Telescope data, peers
   closer to the heart of the active star-forming region revealing newborn
   stars scattered within, against a crowded field of background stars
   toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. This tumultuous stellar
   nursery's central regions are sculpted and energized by the massive,
   young Herschel 36, seen as the bright star near center in the field of
   view. Herschel 36 is actually a multiple system of massive stars. At
   over 30 times the mass of the Sun and less than 1 million years old,
   the most massive star in the system should live to a stellar old age of
   5 million years. Compare that to the almost 5 billion year old Sun
   which will evolve into a red giant in only another 5 billion years or
   so. The Lagoon Nebula, also known as M8, lies about 4,000 light-years
   away within the boundaries of the constellation Sagittarius.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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