﻿ 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 21 [2]A red nebula in a dark starry sky is seen above a rocky peak. The nebula appears similar to a flying bird. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Seagull Nebula over Pinnacles' Peak Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Dheera Venkatraman Explanation: The bird is bigger than the peak. Nicknamed for its [4]avian shape, the [5]Seagull Nebula is an [6]emission nebula on the night sky that is [7]vast, spanning an angle over five times the diameter of the [8]full moon and over 200 [9]light years. The head of the nebula is catalogued as [10]IC 2177, and the star cluster under its right wing is catalogued as NGC 2343. Consisting of mostly red-glowing [11]hydrogen gas, the [12]Seagull Nebula incorporates some dust lanes and is forming [13]stars. The peak over which this Seagull [14]seems to soar occurs at [15]Pinnacles National Park in [16]California, [17]USA. The [18]featured image is a composite of long exposure images of the background sky and short exposure images of the foreground, all taken consecutively with the same camera and from the same location. Explore Your Universe: [19]Random APOD Generator Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [20]< | [21]Archive | [22]Submissions | [23]Index | [24]Search | [25]Calendar | [26]RSS | [27]Education | [28]About APOD | [29]Discuss | [30]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell ([34]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn; [35]Specific rights apply. [36]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC, [40]NASA Science Activation & [41]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2402/SeagullPinnacles_Venkatraman_2051.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/dheeranet/ 4. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avian#Adjective 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230119.html 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240123.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220612.html 9. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/ 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_2177 11. https://periodic.lanl.gov/1.shtml 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180316.html 13. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/stars/ 14. https://i1.sndcdn.com/avatars-000031354923-a6ixw8-t500x500.jpg 15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinnacles_National_Park 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California 17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States 18. https://www.instagram.com/p/CKXdL1YndQi/ 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/random_apod.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240220.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 26. https://apod.com/feed.rss 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 29. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240221 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240222.html 31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 37. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 38. https://www.nasa.gov/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 40. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 41. http://www.mtu.edu/