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 18 [2]A tall starscape appears to have two bright nebulas. The large one at the top is colored mostly red and is known as the Seagull Nebula. The small one near the bottom right is known as Thor's Helmet. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Thor's Helmet versus the Seagull Image Credit & Copyright: Nicolas Martino, Adrien Soto, Louis Leroux & [3]Yann Sainty Explanation: Seen as a seagull and a duck, these nebulae are not the only [4]cosmic clouds to [5]evoke images of flight. But both are winging their way across this broad celestial landscape, spanning almost 7 degrees across [6]planet Earth's night sky toward the constellation of the Big Dog ([7]Canis Major). The [8]expansive Seagull (top center) [9]is itself composed of two major cataloged [10]emission nebulas. Brighter NGC 2327 forms the head with the more diffuse IC 2177 as the wings and body. Impressively, the Seagull's wingspan would correspond to about 250 [11]light-years at the nebula's estimated distance of 3,800 light-years. At the lower right, the Duck appears much more compact and would span only about 50 light-years given its 15,000 light-year distance estimate. Blown by [12]energetic winds from an extremely massive, hot star near its center, the Duck nebula is cataloged as NGC 2359. Of course, the Duck's thick body and winged appendages also lend it the slightly more [13]dramatic popular moniker, [14]Thor's Helmet. Portal Universe: [15]Random APOD Generator Tomorrow's picture: star system forming __________________________________________________________________ [16]< | [17]Archive | [18]Submissions | [19]Index | [20]Search | [21]Calendar | [22]RSS | [23]Education | [24]About APOD | [25]Discuss | [26]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell ([30]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [31]Specific rights apply. [32]NASA Web Privacy, [33]Accessibility, [34]Notices; A service of: [35]ASD at [36]NASA / [37]GSFC, [38]NASA Science Activation & [39]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2502/SeagullThor_Martino_5149.jpg 3. https://www.astrobin.com/users/yann_sainty/ 4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080719.html 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221121.html 6. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/facts/ 7. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/canismajor.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090327.html 9. https://www.flickr.com/photos/113243238@N08/38742044570/ 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_nebula 11. https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/what-is-a-light-year/ 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250203.html 13. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3M2YKeaTXIY/hq720.jpg 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240109.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/random_apod.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250217.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 22. https://apod.com/feed.rss 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 25. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250218 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250219.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 33. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 35. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 36. https://www.nasa.gov/ 37. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 38. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 39. http://www.mtu.edu/