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Credit & Copyright: Alistair Symon
Explanation:
In brush strokes
of interstellar dust and glowing
hydrogen gas,
this beautiful skyscape is painted across the plane of our
Milky Way Galaxy
near the northern end of the Great Rift and
the constellation Cygnus the Swan.
Composed using 22 different images and over 180 hours
of image data, the widefield mosaic spans an impressive
24 degrees across the sky.
Alpha star of Cygnus, bright, hot, supergiant
Deneb
lies near top center.
Crowded with stars and luminous gas clouds Cygnus is also home
to the dark, obscuring
Northern Coal Sack Nebula, extending from Deneb
toward the center of the view.
The reddish glow of star forming regions NGC 7000 and IC 5070, the
North America Nebula and Pelican Nebulas, are just left
of Deneb.
The Veil Nebula is a
standout below and left of center.
A supernova remnant, the Veil is some 1,400
light years away,
but many other nebulae and star clusters are
identifiable
throughout the cosmic scene.
Of course,
Deneb itself is
also known to northern hemisphere skygazers for its place in two
asterisms --
marking the top of the
Northern Cross and
a vertex of the
Summer Triangle.
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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: Cygnus
Publications with words: Cygnus
See also: