﻿ 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. 2024 February 4 [2]A starfield is shown that has only a few bright stars. Vertically through the center is a large reddish brown nebula that has a few stars embedded. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. The Cone Nebula from Hubble Image Credit: [3]Hubble Legacy Archive, [4]NASA, [5]ESA - Processing & [6]Licence: [7]Judy Schmidt Explanation: Stars are forming in the gigantic dust pillar called the Cone Nebula. Cones, [8]pillars, and majestic [9]flowing shapes abound in [10]stellar nurseries where natal clouds of gas and dust are buffeted by energetic winds from newborn stars. The [11]Cone Nebula, a well-known example, lies within the bright galactic star-forming region [12]NGC 2264. The [13]Cone was captured in unprecedented detail in [14]this close-up composite of several observations from the Earth-orbiting [15]Hubble Space Telescope. While the [16]Cone Nebula, about 2,500 [17]light-years away in [18]Monoceros, is around 7 light-years long, [19]the region pictured here surrounding the cone's blunted head is a mere 2.5 light-years across. In [20]our neck of the galaxy that distance is just over half way from our Sun to its [21]nearest stellar neighbors in the [22]Alpha Centauri star system. The massive star [23]NGC 2264 IRS, seen by Hubble's infrared camera in 1997, is the likely source of the [24]wind sculpting the Cone Nebula and lies off the top of the image. The [25]Cone Nebula's reddish veil is produced by dust and glowing hydrogen gas. Tomorrow's picture: carina's crazy core __________________________________________________________________ [26]< | [27]Archive | [28]Submissions | [29]Index | [30]Search | [31]Calendar | [32]RSS | [33]Education | [34]About APOD | [35]Discuss | [36]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell ([40]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn; [41]Specific rights apply. [42]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC, [46]NASA Science Activation & [47]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2402/cone_hubbleschmidt_4048.jpg 3. https://hla.stsci.edu/ 4. https://www.nasa.gov/ 5. https://www.esa.int/ 6. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ 7. https://geckzilla.com/ 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011125.html 9. http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave/staltite/staltite.html 10. https://esahubble.org/science/formation_of_stars/ 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230110.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201226.html 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_nebula 14. https://www.flickr.com/photos/geckzilla/13313909663/ 15. https://esahubble.org/about/ 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190416.html 17. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/ 18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoceros 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0205/cone_hst_label.jpg 20. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galaxy.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160825.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120628.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap970611.html 24. https://t4.ftcdn.net/jpg/05/92/36/97/360_F_592369798_B4z51rOFjAw2rzf0CuZmcv8Pic6OpiB9.jpg 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070509.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240203.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 32. https://apod.com/feed.rss 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 35. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240204 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240205.html 37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/ 45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 46. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 47. http://www.mtu.edu/