              APOD: 2017 November 23 - Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                               2017 November 23
                                      [2]
                          Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka
             Image Credit & Copyright [3] : Mohammad Nouroozi [4]

Explanation: Alnitak [5] , Alnilam [6] , and Mintaka [7] , are the bright
bluish stars from east to west (lower right to upper left) along the diagonal
in this cosmic vista [8] . Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion [9] , these
three blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun.
They lie from 800 to 1,500 light-years away [10] , born of Orion's
well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust adrift in
this region have some surprisingly familiar shapes, including the dark
Horsehead [11]  Nebula and Flame Nebula [12]  near Alnitak at the lower right.
The famous Orion [13]  Nebula itself is off the right edge of this colorful
starfield. This well-framed, 2-panel telescopic mosaic spans about 4 degrees
on the sky [14] .

            Tomorrow's picture: remembering where you parked [15]

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [27] (MTU [28] ) & Jerry Bonnell [29]
                                  (UMCP [30] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [31] .
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                           & Michigan Tech. U. [36]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1711/BeltStars_nouroozi2000.jpg
  [3] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [4] https://www.facebook.com/rayan.nouroozi
  [5] http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/alnitak.html
  [6] http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/alnilam.html
  [7] http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/mintaka.html
  [8] https://www.nasa.gov/content/ orions-belt-rises-through-the-atmosphere
  [9] http://www.gb.nrao.edu/~rmaddale/Education/OrionTourCenter/ optical.html
  [10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD-5ZOipE48
  [11] ap100513.html
  [12] ap101126.html
  [13] ap090826.html
  [14] ap120119.html
  [15] ap171124.html
  [16] ap171122.html
  [17] archivepix.html
  [18] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [19] lib/aptree.html
  [20] http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [21] calendar/allyears.html
  [22] /apod.rss
  [23] lib/edlinks.html
  [24] lib/about_apod.html
  [25] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=171123
  [26] ap171124.html
  [27] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [28] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [29] http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [30] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [31] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [32] http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [33] http://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [34] http://www.nasa.gov/
  [35] http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [36] http://www.mtu.edu/
