                        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.

                                2023 June 14
    A dark brown cloud that appears similar to a shark is seen against a
    background filled with stars and less prominent blue-shaded nebulas.
          Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                              The Shark Nebula
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Stephen Kennedy

   Explanation: There is no sea on Earth large enough to contain the Shark
   nebula. This predator apparition poses us no danger as it is composed
   only of interstellar gas and dust. Dark dust like that featured here is
   somewhat like cigarette smoke and created in the cool atmospheres of
   giant stars. After being expelled with gas and gravitationally
   recondensing, massive stars may carve intricate structures into their
   birth cloud using their high energy light and fast stellar winds as
   sculpting tools. The heat they generate evaporates the murky molecular
   cloud as well as causing ambient hydrogen gas to disperse and glow red.
   During disintegration, we humans can enjoy imagining these great clouds
   as common icons, like we do for water clouds on Earth. Including
   smaller dust nebulae such as Lynds Dark Nebula 1235 and Van den Bergh
   149 & 150, the Shark nebula spans about 15 light years and lies about
   650 light years away toward the constellation of the King of Aethiopia
   (Cepheus).

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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