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Credit & Copyright: Neil Fleming
Explanation:
This expansive (1-degree wide)
telescopic
view looks out along the
plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the
nebula rich constellation
Cygnus
the Swan.
It is centered on a bright hydrogen emission region
recorded in the
1959 catalog
by astronomer Stewart Sharpless
as Sh2-101.
About 8,000 light-years distant the nebula is popularly known
as the Tulip Nebula, understandably not the only
cosmic cloud to evoke the imagery
of flowers.
Complex and beautiful in visible light, the area also includes
one of the brightest, most famous sources in the
x-ray
sky, Cygnus X-1.
Discovered in the early 1970s,
Cygnus
X-1 is a bizarre
binary system consisting of a massive, hot, supergiant star
(seen here)
in close orbit with a stellar mass
black hole.
The Cygnus
X-1 system is also estimated to lie a
comfortable
8,000 light-years away.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
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: emission nebula - Cyg X-1 - Cygnus
Publications with words: emission nebula - Cyg X-1 - Cygnus
See also:
- APOD: 2024 April 24 Á Dragons Egg Bipolar Emission Nebula
- APOD: 2024 March 13 Á The Seagull Nebula
- APOD: 2024 February 21 Á Seagull Nebula over Pinnacles Peak
- NGC 1893 and the Tadpoles of IC 410
- The Light, the Dark, and the Dusty
- APOD: 2023 December 13 Á Deep Field: The Heart Nebula
- The Ghosts of Gamma Cas