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Astronomy Picture of the Day - M78: Reflecting Blue in a Sea of Red
NASA ^ | 28 Jan, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel McCauley

Posted on 01/28/2026 12:02:10 PM PST by MtnClimber

Explanation: In the vast Orion Molecular Cloud complex, several bright blue nebulas are particularly apparent. Pictured here in the center are two of the most prominent reflection nebulas - dust clouds lit by the reflecting light of bright embedded stars. The more famous nebula is M78, in the image center, cataloged over 200 years ago. To its upper left is the lesser known NGC 2071. Astronomers continue to study these reflection nebulas to better understand how interior stars form. The overall red glow is from diffuse hydrogen gas that covers much of the Orion complex that spans much of the constellation of Orion. Nearby in the greater complex, which lies about 1,500 light years away, are the Orion Nebula, the Horsehead Nebula, and Barnard's Loop -- partially seen here as the white band on the upper left.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
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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 01/28/2026 12:02:10 PM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 01/28/2026 12:02:32 PM PST 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

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

3 posted on 01/28/2026 12:03:21 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: All

These nebula are always so political. There’s always a blue constituent migrating to the red states to stink it up.


4 posted on 01/28/2026 12:22:23 PM PST by BipolarBob (These violent delights have violent ends.)
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To: MtnClimber
Reflecting Blue in a Sea of Red

That's not an astronomy pic, that's a map of Dem/Rep areas from an election.

5 posted on 01/28/2026 12:23:09 PM PST by EnderWiggin1970
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To: MtnClimber

bloody mold


6 posted on 01/28/2026 12:35:53 PM PST by DannyTN
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To: MtnClimber

Wow.


7 posted on 01/28/2026 12:41:21 PM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: MtnClimber

Nice.


8 posted on 01/28/2026 2:14:18 PM PST by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum…)
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