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 December 1

                  NGC 346: Star Forming Cluster in the SMC
     Image Credit & License: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Judy Schmidt

   Explanation: Are stars still forming in the Milky Way's satellite
   galaxies? Found among the Small Magellanic Cloud's (SMC's) clusters and
   nebulas, NGC 346 is a star forming region about 200 light-years across,
   pictured here in the center of a Hubble Space Telescope image. A
   satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is
   a wonder of the southern sky, a mere 210,000 light-years distant in the
   constellation of the Toucan (Tucana). Exploring NGC 346, astronomers
   have identified a population of embryonic stars strung along the dark,
   intersecting dust lanes visible here on the right. Still collapsing
   within their natal clouds, the stellar infants' light is reddened by
   the intervening dust. Toward the top of the frame is another star
   cluster with intrinsically older and redder stars. A small, irregular
   galaxy, the SMC itself represents a type of galaxy more common in the
   early Universe. These small galaxies, though, are thought to be
   building blocks for the larger galaxies present today.

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