January 17, 2009
The universe is under no obligation to make sense to us, and yet here you are — a collection of atoms that somehow learned to think, to...
IC 410 and NGC 1893
Birthday · January 17, 2009
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APOD published January 17, 2009. Credit: Jacob Bassøe. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Dusty emission nebula IC 410 lies about 12,000 light-years away in the northern constellation Auriga. The cloud of glowing gas is over 100 light-years across, sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from embedded open star cluster NGC 1893. Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago, bright cluster stars are seen just below the prominent dark dust cloud near picture center. Notable near the 7 o'clock position are two relatively dense streamers of material trailing away from the nebula's central regions. Potentially sites of ongoing star formation, these cosmic tadpole shapes are about 10 light-years long. Emission from sulfur atoms is shown in red, hydrogen atoms in green, and oxygen in blue hues in this false-color, narrow band composite image.
Image credit: Jacob Bassøe