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.

                               2020 January 12

                     Stars and Dust in Corona Australis
   Image Credit & Copyright: CHART32 Team, Processing - Johannes Schedler

   Explanation: Cosmic dust clouds and young, energetic stars inhabit this
   telescopic vista, less than 500 light-years away toward the northern
   boundary of Corona Australis, the Southern Crown. The dust clouds
   effectively block light from more distant background stars in the Milky
   Way. But the striking complex of reflection nebulae cataloged as NGC
   6726, 6727, and IC 4812 produce a characteristic blue color as light
   from the region's young hot stars is reflected by the cosmic dust. The
   dust also obscures from view stars still in the process of formation.
   At the left, smaller yellowish nebula NGC 6729 bends around young
   variable star R Coronae Australis. Just below it, glowing arcs and
   loops shocked by outflows from embedded newborn stars are identified as
   Herbig-Haro objects. On the sky this field of view spans about 1
   degree. That corresponds to almost 9 light-years at the estimated
   distance of the nearby star forming region.

             Video: Best of APOD 2019 for the Night Sky Network
                     Tomorrow's picture: desert eclipse
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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