January 28, 2020
Long before your first heartbeat, stars were busy forging the elements you would one day call your own.
Star Formation in the Tadpole Nebula
Birthday · January 28, 2020
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APOD published January 28, 2020. Credit: : Francesco Antonucci. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What's all of the commotion in the Tadpole Nebula? Star formation. Dusty emission in the Tadpole Nebula, IC 410, lies about 12,000 light-years away in the northern constellation of the Charioteer (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 newly formed cluster stars are seen all around the star-forming nebula. Notable near the image center are two relatively dense streamers of material trailing away from the nebula's central regions. Potentially sites of ongoing star formation in IC 410, these cosmic tadpole shapes are about 10 light-years long. The featured image was taken in infrared light by NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite. Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD
Image credit: : Francesco Antonucci