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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Star Formation in the Pacman Nebula
NASA ^ | 26 Mar, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Montilla (AAE)

Posted on 03/26/2025 12:30:41 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: You'd think the Pacman Nebula would be eating stars, but actually it is forming them. Within the nebula, a cluster's young, massive stars are powering the pervasive nebular glow. The eye-catching shapes looming in the featured portrait of NGC 281 are sculpted dusty columns and dense Bok globules seen in silhouette, eroded by intense, energetic winds and radiation from the hot cluster stars. If they survive long enough, the dusty structures could also be sites of future star formation. Playfully called the Pacman Nebula because of its overall shape, NGC 281 is about 10,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. This sharp composite image was made through narrow-band filters in Spain in mid 2024. It combines emissions from the nebula's hydrogen and oxygen atoms to synthesize red, green, and blue colors. The scene spans well over 80 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 281.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

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.

1 posted on 03/26/2025 12:30:41 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 03/26/2025 12:31:01 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

πŸͺ 🌟 🌌 πŸ”

3 posted on 03/26/2025 12:32:02 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber
Explanation: You'd think the Pacman Nebula would be eating stars, but actually it is forming them.

Pacman pooping stars? It had to happen considering the voracious Pacman diet.

4 posted on 03/26/2025 1:36:26 PM PDT by BlackbirdSST (Trump or Bust! Long live the Republic.)
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To: MtnClimber

I know stars in photographs don’t have spikes, but I think it adds something to the photo.


5 posted on 03/26/2025 4:38:25 PM PDT by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! πŸ”­)
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To: MtnClimber

That’s beautiful.


6 posted on 03/26/2025 4:56:51 PM PDT by Huskrrrr (Alinsky, you magnificent Bastard, I read your book!)
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