Explanation: The silhouette of an intriguing dark nebula inhabits this cosmic scene, based on images from the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey. Lynds' Dark Nebula (LDN) 1622 appears against a faint background of glowing hydrogen gas only easily seen in long telescopic exposures of the region. 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. But the obscuring dust of LDN 1622 is thought to be much closer than Orion's more famous nebulae, perhaps only 500 light-years away. At that distance, this 1 degree wide field of view would span less than 10 light-years.
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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:
- APOD: 2024 January 31 Á Camera Orion Rising
- APOD: 2024 January 29 Á The Pleiades: Seven Dusty Sisters
- APOD: 2024 January 16 Á The Orion You Can Almost See
- APOD: 2023 November 27 Á LBN 86: The Eagle Ray Nebula
- APOD: 2023 November 20 Á The Horsehead Nebula
- NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula
- The Dark Seahorse in Cepheus