﻿ 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. 2022 January 11 [2]The featured image shows the belt of three stars in the constellation of Orion with surrounding dust and gas but with all of the other stars removed. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Orion's Belt Region in Gas and Dust Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Matt Harbison ([4]Space4Everybody), Marathon Remote Imaging Observatory Explanation: You may have seen Orion's belt before -- but not like this. The three bright stars across this image are, from left to right, [5]Mintaka, [6]Alnilam, and [7]Alnitak: the iconic [8]belt stars of [9]Orion. The rest of the [10]stars in the frame have been digitally removed to highlight the surrounding clouds of glowing gas and dark dust. Some of these clouds have intriguing shapes, including the [11]Horsehead and [12]Flame Nebulas, both near Alnitak on the lower right. [13]This deep image, taken last month from the [14]Marathon Skypark and Observatory in [15]Marathon, [16]Texas, [17]USA, spans about 5 degrees, required about 20 hours of exposure, and was processed to reveal the gas and dust that we would really see if we were much closer. The famous [18]Orion Nebula is off to the upper right of this colorful field. The entire region lies only about 1,500 [19]light-years distant and so is one of the closest and [20]best studied star formation nurseries known. Tonight: APOD Editor to Present the [21]Best Space Images of 2021 Tomorrow's picture: comet close-up __________________________________________________________________ [22]< | [23]Archive | [24]Submissions | [25]Index | [26]Search | [27]Calendar | [28]RSS | [29]Education | [30]About APOD | [31]Discuss | [32]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell ([36]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [37]Specific rights apply. [38]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC & [42]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2201/OrionStarFree3_Harbison_5000.jpg 3. https://space4everybody.com/15-2/ 4. https://space4everybody.com/ 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mintaka 6. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/alnilam.html 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alnitak 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210112.html 9. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/orion.html 10. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200412.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210412.html 13. https://www.astrobin.com/7tbzfy/ 14. https://www.marathonskypark.com/ 15. https://youtu.be/-Vyxsd1P0O8 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas 17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210509.html 19. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/ 20. https://images.hindustantimes.com/img/2021/10/08/550x309/WhatsApp_Image_2021-10-08_at_5.37.05_PM_1633694844878_1633694863024.jpeg 21. https://aaa.org/event/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-2/ 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220110.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 31. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220111 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220112.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 42. http://www.mtu.edu/