Credit & Copyright: Ian Sharp
Explanation:
An eerie blue glow and ominous columns of
dark dust highlight M78 and other bright
reflection nebula
in the constellation of Orion.
The dark filamentary
dust not only absorbs light, but also reflects the
light of several bright blue stars that
formed recently in the nebula.
Of the two reflection nebulas
pictured above, the more famous nebula is
M78, in the image center, while
NGC 2071 can be seen to its lower left.
The same type of scattering that colors the
daytime sky further enhances the blue color.
M78 is about five
light-years across and visible through a small telescope.
M78 appears above only as it was
1600 years ago,
however, because that is how long it takes light to go from
there
to here.
M78
belongs to the larger
Orion
Molecular
Cloud
Complex
that contains the
Great Nebula in Orion and the
Horsehead Nebula.
Follow APOD on:
Facebook,
Google Plus,
or
Twitter
January February March April May June July August September October November December |
|
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: reflection nebula - dust
Publications with words: reflection nebula - dust
See also:
- APOD: 2024 January 29 Á The Pleiades: Seven Dusty Sisters
- The Light, the Dark, and the Dusty
- APOD: 2023 October 30 Á Reflections of the Ghost Nebula
- The Ghosts of Gamma Cas
- APOD: 2023 September 26 Á IC 4592: The Blue Horsehead Reflection Nebula
- NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula
- NGC 1333: Stellar Nursery in Perseus