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Credit & Copyright: Don Goldman
Explanation:
A small constellation hiding near the
south celestial pole,
The Chamaeleon boasts no bright stars.
Stars are forming within its constellation boundaries though,
in a complex of dark, dusty molecular clouds.
Some 500 light-years distant, the
Chamaeleon II
dark nebula inhabits
this view where the cosmic dust clouds standout mostly in silhouette
against the starry southern sky.
The
telescopic frame is about the angular size of a Full Moon
and so spans about 5 light-years at the dark cloud's estimated distance.
Scattered near center a telltale reddish glow from identified
Herbig-Haro
objects is seen in the sharp image, jets of shocked glowing gas
emanating
from recently formed stars.
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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 cloud
Publications with words: dark cloud
See also: