October 19, 2013
The Earth has carried you around the Sun again, steady as ever, while the stars kept their patient watch.
Sh2-155: The Cave Nebula
Birthday · October 19, 2013
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APOD published October 19, 2013. Credit: Jimmy Walker. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
This colorful skyscape features the dusty, reddish glow of Sharpless catalog emission region Sh2-155, the Cave Nebula. About 2,400 light-years away, the scene lies along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the royal northern constellation of Cepheus. Astronomical explorations of the region reveal that it has formed at the boundary of the massive Cepheus B molecular cloud and the hot, young, blue stars of the Cepheus OB 3 association. The bright rim of ionized hydrogen gas is energized by the radiation from the hot stars, dominated by the bright blue O-type star above picture center. Radiation driven ionization fronts are likely triggering collapsing cores and new star formation within. Appropriately sized for a stellar nursery, the cosmic cave is over 10 light-years across.
Image credit: Jimmy Walker