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 November 5

                            North of Orion's Belt
      Image Credit & Copyright: Terry Hancock (Grand Mesa Observatory)

   Explanation: Bright stars, interstellar clouds of dust and glowing
   nebulae fill this cosmic scene, a skyscape just north of Orion's belt.
   Close to the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, the wide field view spans
   just under 5 degrees or about 10 full moons on the sky. Striking bluish
   M78, a reflection nebula, is at the lower right. M78's tint is due to
   dust preferentially reflecting the blue light of hot, young stars. In
   colorful contrast, the red swath of glowing hydrogen gas streaming
   through the center is part of the region's faint but extensive emission
   nebula known as Barnard's Loop. At upper left, a dark dust cloud forms
   a prominent silhouette cataloged as LDN 1622. While M78 and the complex
   Barnard's Loop are some 1,500 light-years away, LDN 1622 is likely to
   be much closer, only about 500 light-years distant from our fair planet
   Earth.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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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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