September 20, 2021
The universe does not repeat itself. Every sunrise is unique, every snowflake singular, and every birthday yours alone.
Lynds Dark Nebula 1251
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APOD published September 20, 2021. Credit: Cristiano Gualco. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Stars are forming in Lynds Dark Nebula (LDN) 1251. About 1,000 light-years away and drifting above the plane of our Milky Way galaxy, the dusty molecular cloud is part of a complex of dark nebulae mapped toward the Cepheus flare region. Across the spectrum, astronomical explorations of the obscuring interstellar clouds reveal energetic shocks and outflows associated with newborn stars, including the telltale reddish glow from scattered Herbig-Haro objects hiding in the image. Distant background galaxies also lurk on the scene, almost buried behind the dusty expanse. This alluring view spans over two full moons on the sky, or 17 light-years at the estimated distance of LDN 1251.
Image credit: Cristiano Gualco