Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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 December 12 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Decorating the Sky Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Leonardo Julio ([5]Astronomia Pampeana) Explanation: Bright stars, clouds of dust and glowing nebulae [6]decorate this cosmic scene, a skyscape just north of [7]Orion's belt. Close to the plane of our [8]Milky Way galaxy, the wide field view spans about 5.5 degrees. Striking [9]bluish M78, a reflection nebula, is on the right. M78's tint is due to dust preferentially reflecting the [10]blue light of hot, young stars. In colorful contrast, the red sash of glowing hydrogen gas sweeping through the center is part of the region's faint but [11]extensive emission nebula known as [12]Barnard's Loop. At lower left, a dark dust cloud forms a prominent silhouette cataloged as [13]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 __________________________________________________________________ [14]< | [15]Archive | [16]Submissions | [17]Index | [18]Search | [19]Calendar | [20]RSS | [21]Education | [22]About APOD | [23]Discuss | [24]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell ([28]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [29]Specific rights apply. [30]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC & [34]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1912/m78ldn1622barnardsloopJulio.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. http://astronomiapampeana.com.ar/contacto.html 5. http://astronomiapampeana.com.ar/ 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090411.html 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171123.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191010.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190308.html 10. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/messier-78 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101023.html 12. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1894PA......2..151B/abstract 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190202.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191211.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=191212 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191213.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 34. http://www.mtu.edu/