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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
The Spider and the Fly
Explanation: Will the spider ever catch the fly? Not if both are large emission nebulas toward the constellation of the Charioteer ( Auriga ). The spider -shaped gas cloud in the image center is actually an emission nebula labelled IC 417 , while the smaller fly-shaped cloud on the left is dubbed NGC 1931 and is both an emission nebula and a reflection nebula. About 10,000 light-years distant, both nebulas harbor young star clusters. For scale, the more compact NGC 1931 (Fly) is about 10 light-years across. The featured deep image , captured over 20 hours during late January in Berkshire UK , also shows more diffuse and red-glowing interstellar gas and dust.
Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
| Date | February 11, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Image Credit & Copyright: Dave Boddington |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |