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Credit & Copyright: Raul
Villaverde Fraile
Explanation:
Seen as a seagull and a duck, these nebulae are
not the only
cosmic clouds to
evoke images of flight.
But both are winging their way across this broad
celestial landscape, spanning almost 7 degrees across
planet Earth's night sky
toward the constellation
Canis Major.
The expansive Seagull
(top center)
is
itself composed of
two major cataloged
emission nebulae.
Brighter NGC 2327 forms the head with the more diffuse
IC 2177 as the wings and body.
Impressively, the Seagull's
wingspan would correspond to about 250 light-years at
the nebula's estimated distance of 3,800 light-years.
At the lower right, the Duck appears much more compact and
would span only about 50 light-years given its
15,000 light-year distance estimate.
Blown by energetic winds from an extremely massive,
hot star near its center, the Duck nebula is cataloged
as NGC 2359.
Of course, the Duck's thick body and winged appendages
also lend it the slightly more dramatic popular moniker,
Thor's Helmet.
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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: emission nebula - duck nebula
Publications with words: emission nebula - duck nebula
See also:
- APOD: 2024 April 24 Á Dragons Egg Bipolar Emission Nebula
- APOD: 2024 March 13 Á The Seagull Nebula
- APOD: 2024 February 21 Á Seagull Nebula over Pinnacles Peak
- NGC 1893 and the Tadpoles of IC 410
- The Light, the Dark, and the Dusty
- APOD: 2023 December 13 Á Deep Field: The Heart Nebula
- The Ghosts of Gamma Cas