March 7, 2015
The oldest light in the universe still hums faintly through space, a relic of the beginning itself.
NGC 602 in the Flying Lizard Nebula
Birthday · March 7, 2015
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APOD published March 7, 2015. Credit: Don Goldman. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies 5 million year young star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by natal gas and dust, NGC 602 is just below center in this telescopic field of view with the angular size of the Full Moon on the sky. The cluster itself is about 200 light-years in diameter. Glowing interior ridges and swept back shapes strongly suggest that energetic radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation moving away from the cluster's center. Of course, the more extended wings of emission in the region suggest a popular name for the complex cosmic environment, The Flying Lizard Nebula.
Image credit: Don Goldman