                        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 21
      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: Dheera Venkatraman

   Explanation: The bird is bigger than the peak. Nicknamed for its avian
   shape, the Seagull Nebula is an emission nebula on the night sky that
   is vast, spanning an angle over five times the diameter of the full
   moon and over 200 light years. The head of the nebula is catalogued as
   IC 2177, and the star cluster under its right wing is catalogued as NGC
   2343. Consisting of mostly red-glowing hydrogen gas, the Seagull Nebula
   incorporates some dust lanes and is forming stars. The peak over which
   this Seagull seems to soar occurs at Pinnacles National Park in
   California, USA. The 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.

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