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Credit & Copyright: Dave Boddington
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.
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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: open cluster - emission nebula
Publications with words: open cluster - emission nebula
See also: