                        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.

                               2022 August 27

                         IC 5146: The Cocoon Nebula
                   Image Credit & Copyright: David Jenkins

   Explanation: Inside the Cocoon Nebula is a newly developing cluster of
   stars. Cataloged as IC 5146, the beautiful nebula is nearly 15
   light-years wide. Climbing high in northern summer night skies, it's
   located some 4,000 light years away toward the constellation Cygnus the
   Swan. Like other star forming regions, it stands out in red, glowing,
   hydrogen gas excited by young, hot stars, and dust-reflected starlight
   at the edge of an otherwise invisible molecular cloud. In fact, the
   bright star found near the center of this nebula is likely only a few
   hundred thousand years old, powering the nebular glow as it clears out
   a cavity in the molecular cloud's star forming dust and gas. A 29 hour
   long integration with a small telescope from Ayr, Ontario, Canada
   resulted in this exceptionally deep color view tracing tantalizing
   features within and surrounding the dusty stellar nursery.

                    Tomorrow's picture: perijove passage
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