Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2025 February 11 [2]A star field has a red diffuse glow on the right-hand side. Distinct nebulas appear in the center and on the lower left. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. The Spider and the Fly Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Dave Boddington Explanation: Will the spider ever catch the fly? Not if both are large emission nebulas toward the constellation of the Charioteer ([4]Auriga). The [5]spider-shaped gas cloud in the image center is actually an emission nebula labelled [6]IC 417, while the smaller fly-shaped cloud on the left is dubbed [7]NGC 1931 and is both an emission nebula and a reflection nebula. About 10,000 [8]light-years distant, both nebulas harbor young star clusters. For scale, the more compact [9]NGC 1931 (Fly) is about 10 light-years across. The [10]featured deep [11]image, captured over 20 hours during late January in [12]Berkshire [13]UK, also shows more diffuse and red-glowing interstellar gas and dust. Explore Your Universe: [14]Random APOD Generator Tomorrow's picture: asteroid revolution __________________________________________________________________ [15]< | [16]Archive | [17]Submissions | [18]Index | [19]Search | [20]Calendar | [21]RSS | [22]Education | [23]About APOD | [24]Discuss | [25]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell ([29]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [30]Specific rights apply. [31]NASA Web Privacy, [32]Accessibility, [33]Notices; A service of: [34]ASD at [35]NASA / [36]GSFC, [37]NASA Science Activation & [38]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2502/SpiderFly_Boddington_4788.jpg 3. https://www.flickr.com/photos/158660766@N05/ 4. http://hawastsoc.org/deepsky/aur/index.html 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spider_and_the_Fly_(poem)#Text 6. https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-ic417/ 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_1931 8. https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/what-is-a-light-year/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151201.html 10. https://www.flickr.com/photos/158660766@N05/54291858602/in/pool-apods/ 11. https://www.astrobin.com/5f29e1/ 12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshire 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/random_apod.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250210.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 21. https://apod.com/feed.rss 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 24. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250211 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250212.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 32. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 34. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 35. https://www.nasa.gov/ 36. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 37. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 38. http://www.mtu.edu/