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.

                              2019 September 4

                        The Spider Nebula in Infrared
       Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope, 2MASS

   Explanation: Will the spider ever catch the fly? Not if both are large
   emission nebulas toward the constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga).
   The spider-shaped gas cloud on the left is actually an emission nebula
   labelled IC 417, while the smaller fly-shaped cloud on the right is
   dubbed NGC 1931 and is both an emission nebula and a reflection nebula.
   About 10,000 light-years distant, both nebulas harbor young, open star
   clusters. For scale, the more compact NGC 1931 (Fly) is about 10
   light-years across. The featured picture in scientifically-assigned,
   infrared colors combines images from the Spitzer Space Telescope and
   the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). Spitzer is celebrating its 16th
   year orbiting the Sun near the Earth.

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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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