Astronomy Picture of the Day - A Filament in Monoceros

APOD.NASA.gov ^ | 18 Mar, 2022 | Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgio Ferrari

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: Bluish reflection nebulae seem to fill this dusty expanse. The sharp telescopic frame spans over 1 degree on the sky toward the faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. Seen within the Monoceros R1 cloud complex some 2,500 light-years away, bluish IC 447 is on the left, joined by a long dark filament of dust to IC 446 at lower right. Embedded in IC 447 are young, massive blue stars much hotter than the Sun, whose light is reflected by the cosmic cloud of star stuff. Observations reveal that IC 446 also contains a young stellar object, a massive star still in an early stage of evolution. The dark filament of dust and molecular gas joining the two star-forming regions is over 15 light-years long.

[MtnClimber]

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list.

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[frogjerk]

Thanks for posting these pictures of the Lord’s creation everyday. It puts everything in perspective.

[BenLurkin]

bttt

[MtnClimber]

You are certainly welcome!

[Celtic Conservative]

Looks like:

“?”

Cc

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Looks mighty cold and lonely out there. I think I’ll stay in, tonight. ;)

“We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devil’s bargain
And we’ve got to get ourselves
back to the Garden...”

~ Joni Mitchell

[DannyTN]

It's a smiley face that has been taken over by a dark suit, like batman was.

So it's half smile have smirk.

[Red Badger]

So THIS IS A UNICORN FART!...................