August 28, 2024
The cosmos has been expanding since the beginning of time, making room for galaxies, for stars, for planets — and ultimately, for you.
Tulip Nebula and Black Hole Cygnus X-1
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APOD published August 28, 2024. Credit: Anirudh Shastry. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
When can you see a black hole, a tulip, and a swan all at once? At night -- if the timing is right, and if your telescope is pointed in the right direction. The complex and beautiful Tulip Nebula blossoms about 8,000 light-years away toward the constellation of Cygnus the Swan. Ultraviolet radiation from young energetic stars at the edge of the Cygnus OB3 association, including O star HDE 227018, ionizes the atoms and powers the emission from the Tulip Nebula. Stewart Sharpless cataloged this nearly 70 light-years across reddish glowing cloud of interstellar gas and dust in 1959, as Sh2-101. Also in the featured field of view is the black hole Cygnus X-1, which is also a microquasar because it is one of strongest X-ray sources in planet Earth's sky. Blasted by powerful jets from a lurking black hole, its fainter bluish curved shock front is only faintly visible beyond the cosmic Tulip's petals, near the right side of the frame. Back to School? Learn Science with NASA
Image credit: Anirudh Shastry