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 October 30

                        M42: Inside the Orion Nebula
           Image Credit & Copyright: Josep M. Drudis & Don Goldman

   Explanation: The Great Nebula in Orion, an immense, nearby starbirth
   region, is probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulas. Here,
   glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense
   interstellar molecular cloud only 1500 light-years away. In the
   featured deep image in assigned colors highlighted by emission in
   oxygen and hydrogen, wisps and sheets of dust and gas are particularly
   evident. The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the unaided eye
   near the easily identifiable belt of three stars in the popular
   constellation Orion. In addition to housing a bright open cluster of
   stars known as the Trapezium, the Orion Nebula contains many stellar
   nurseries. These nurseries contain much hydrogen gas, hot young stars,
   proplyds, and stellar jets spewing material at high speeds. Also known
   as M42, the Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in
   the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.

                     Tomorrow's picture: ghost, shocked
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