                        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.

                              2019 December 17

                            The Horsehead Nebula
     Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson & Martin Pugh, SSRO, PROMPT,
                                  CTIO, NSF

   Explanation: Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, a magnificent
   interstellar dust cloud by chance has assumed this recognizable shape.
   Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is some 1,500 light-years
   distant, embedded in the vast Orion cloud complex. About five
   light-years "tall", the dark cloud is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is
   visible only because its obscuring dust is silhouetted against the
   glowing red emission nebula IC 434. Stars are forming within the dark
   cloud. Contrasting blue reflection nebula NGC 2023, surrounding a hot,
   young star, is at the lower left of the full image. The featured
   gorgeous color image combines both narrowband and broadband images
   recorded using several different telescopes.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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