January 24, 2017
On your birthday, the Earth completed another orbit — 584 million miles traveled since your last celebration.
M78 and Orion Dust Reflections
Birthday · January 24, 2017
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APOD published January 24, 2017. Credit: Marco Burali, Tiziano Capecchi, Marco Mancini (MTM observatory, Italy). A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
In the vast Orion Molecular Cloud complex, several bright blue nebulas are particularly apparent. Pictured here 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 left is the lesser known NGC 2071. Astronomers continue to study these reflection nebulas to better understand how interior stars form. The Orion complex lies about 1500 light-years distant, contains the Orion and Horsehead nebulas, and covers much of the constellation of Orion. Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
Image credit: Marco Burali, Tiziano Capecchi, Marco Mancini (MTM observatory, Italy)