                        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.

                               2024 February 2

                     NGC 1893 and the Tadpoles of IC 410
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Sander de Jong

   Explanation: This cosmic view shows off an otherwise faint emission
   nebula IC 410, captured under clear Netherlands skies with telescope
   and narrowband filters. Above and right of center you can spot two
   remarkable inhabitants of the interstellar pond of gas and dust, known
   as the tadpoles of IC 410. Partly obscured by foreground dust, the
   nebula itself surrounds NGC 1893, a young galactic cluster of stars.
   Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago, the
   intensely hot, bright cluster stars energize the glowing gas. Globules
   composed of denser cooler gas and dust, the tadpoles are around 10
   light-years long and are likely sites of ongoing star formation.
   Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation their heads are outlined by
   bright ridges of ionized gas while their tails trail away from the
   cluster's central young stars. IC 410 and embedded NGC 1893 lie some
   10,000 light-years away, toward the nebula-rich constellation Auriga.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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