November 14, 2022
Light takes eight minutes to travel from the Sun to the Earth. It took the universe 13.8 billion years to make you.
NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula
Birthday · November 14, 2022
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APOD published November 14, 2022. Credit: Ioan Popa. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What powers are being wielded in the Wizard Nebula? Gravitation strong enough to form stars, and stellar winds and radiations powerful enough to create and dissolve towers of gas. Located only 8,000 light years away, the Wizard nebula, featured here, surrounds developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears to some like a fictional medieval sorcerer. The active star forming region spans 100 about light years, making it appear larger than the angular extent of the Moon. The Wizard Nebula can be located with a small telescope toward the constellation of the King of Aethiopia (Cepheus). Although the nebula may last only a few million years, some of the stars being formed may outlive our Sun.
Image credit: Ioan Popa