Astronomy Picture of the Day - Orion and the Running Man

NASA ^ | 13 Nov, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: R. Jay Gabany

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: Few cosmic vistas can excite the imagination like The Great Nebula in Orion. Visible as a faint, bland celestial smudge to the naked-eye, the nearest large star-forming region sprawls across this sharp colorful telescopic image. Designated M42 in the Messier Catalog, the Orion Nebula's glowing gas and dust surrounds hot, young stars. About 40 light-years across, M42 is at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1,500 light-years away that lies within the same spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy as the Sun. Including dusty bluish reflection nebula NGC 1977, also known as the Running Man nebula at left in the frame, the natal nebulae represent only a small fraction of our galactic neighborhood's wealth of star-forming material. Within the well-studied stellar nursery, astronomers have also identified what appear to be numerous infant solar systems.

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TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

[MtnClimber]

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.

[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[Deaf Smith]

I see Running Man on the left, but what’s up with that dog lower center looking up at him?

[MtnClimber]

Note: They did not post normally today (out of practice?). The article link is to the general APOD page so it will work today, but anyone clicking tomorrow will get tomorrow’s APOD. Normally they also post to the archives list and that is where I normally link so that the link works at a later date. But they did not post to the archives. Maybe they will later.

[Red Badger]

Look like E.T. doing a doobie................

[MtnClimber]

On the right is a bacon double cheeseburger.

[Red Badger]

For the munchies...................

[Diogenesis]

thank you.

[SkyDancer]

With fries on the left.

[Sacajaweau]

The big red blob looks like a cat...

[Fledermaus]

Looks like an Alien coming out of John Hurt

[No name given]

Wow.

[MtnClimber]

They just posted to the archives an APOD for every day they missed during the shutdown.

[telescope115]

Thanks for posting, it’s a great explanation of the Orion Nebula.

[MtnClimber]

Here is the link to the archive of today's APOD post for those who want to see it after 11-13-25:

Orion and the Running Man

[LonePalm]

Thank you for continuing during the Schumer Shutdown.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)