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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.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

The Protostars within Lynds 483

Explanation: Two protostars are hidden in a single pixel near the center of a striking hourglass-shaped nebula in this near-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope. The actively forming star system lies in a dusty molecular cloud cataloged as Lynds 483, some 650 light-years distant toward the constellation Serpens Cauda . Responsible for the stunning bipolar outflows , the collapsing protostars have been blasting out collimated energetic jets of material over tens of thousands of years. Webb's high-resolution view shows the violence of star-formation in dramatic detail as twisting shock fronts expand and collide with slower, denser material. The premier close-up of the star-forming region spans less than 1/2 a light-year within dark nebula Lynds 483 .

March 13/14: Total Lunar Eclipse

Date March 13, 2025
Credit Image Credit: NASA , ESA , CSA , STScI
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.