                        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.

                                 2021 May 15

                      The Southern Cliff in the Lagoon
   Image Credit: Julia I. Arias and Rodolfo H. Barba' (Dept. Fisica, Univ.
            de La Serena), ICATE-CONICET, Gemini Observatory/AURA

   Explanation: Undulating bright ridges and dusty clouds cross this
   close-up of the nearby star forming region M8, also known as the Lagoon
   Nebula. A sharp, false-color composite of narrow band visible and broad
   band near-infrared data from the 8-meter Gemini South Telescope, the
   entire view spans about 20 light-years through a region of the nebula
   sometimes called the Southern Cliff. The highly detailed image explores
   the association of many newborn stars imbedded in the tips of the
   bright-rimmed clouds and Herbig-Haro objects. Abundant in star-forming
   regions, Herbig-Haro objects are produced as powerful jets emitted by
   young stars in the process of formation heat the surrounding clouds of
   gas and dust. The cosmic Lagoon is found some 5,000 light-years away
   toward the constellation Sagittarius and the center of our Milky Way
   Galaxy. (For location and scale, check out this image superimposing the
   close-up of the Southern Cliff within the larger Lagoon Nebula. The
   scale image is courtesy R. Barba'.)

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