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Credit & Copyright: Min Xie
Explanation:
The silhouette of an intriguing
dark nebula
inhabits this cosmic scene.
Lynds' Dark Nebula
(LDN) 1622 appears against a faint
background of glowing hydrogen gas only visible in long telescopic
exposures of the region.
In contrast, the brighter reflection nebula
vdB 62 is more easily
seen, just above and right of center.
LDN 1622 lies near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy,
close on the sky to
Barnard's
Loop,
a large cloud surrounding the rich
complex of emission nebulae found
in the Belt and Sword
of Orion.
With swept-back outlines, the obscuring dust of LDN 1622 is thought
to lie at a similar distance, perhaps 1,500 light-years away.
At that distance, this 1 degree wide field of view
would span about 30 light-years.
Young
stars do lie hidden within the dark expanse and have been
revealed in Spitzer Space telescope
infrared
images.
Still, the foreboding visual appearance of LDN 1622
inspires its popular name,
the Boogeyman Nebula.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: dark nebula - dust - Orion
Publications with words: dark nebula - dust - Orion
See also: