September 28, 2023
On the day you were born, the universe was already ancient beyond measure — and yet, in all those billions of years, it had never once...
The Deep Lagoon
Birthday · September 28, 2023
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APOD published September 28, 2023. Credit: Josep Drudis. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Ridges of glowing interstellar gas and dark dust clouds inhabit the turbulent, cosmic depths of the Lagoon Nebula. Also known as M8, The bright star forming region is about 5,000 light-years distant. It makes for a popular stop on telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius toward the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. Dominated by the telltale red emission of ionized hydrogen atoms recombining with stripped electrons, this deep telescopic view of the Lagoon's central reaches is about 40 light-years across. The bright hourglass shape near the center of the frame is gas ionized and sculpted by energetic radiation and extreme stellar winds from a massive young star.
Image credit: Josep Drudis