                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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 July 10

                           Lynds Dark Nebula 1251
                 Image Credit & Copyright: Cristiano Gualco

   Explanation: Stars are forming in Lynds Dark Nebula (LDN) 1251. About
   1,000 light-years away and drifting above the plane of our Milky Way
   galaxy, LDN 1251 is also less appetizingly known as "The Rotten Fish
   Nebula." The dusty molecular cloud is part of a complex of dark nebulae
   mapped toward the Cepheus flare region. Across the spectrum,
   astronomical explorations of the obscuring interstellar clouds reveal
   energetic shocks and outflows associated with newborn stars, including
   the telltale reddish glow from scattered Herbig-Haro objects hiding in
   the image. Distant background galaxies also lurk in the scene, almost
   buried behind the dusty expanse. This alluring telescopic frame spans
   almost three full moons on the sky. That corresponds to over 25
   light-years at the estimated distance of LDN 1251.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

