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.

                               2023 February 4
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                   NGC 2626 along the Vela Molecular Ridge
         Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Mike Selby & [5]Mark Hanson

   Explanation: [6]Centered in this colorful cosmic canvas, [7]NGC 2626 is
   a beautiful, bright, blue reflection nebula in the southern Milky Way.
   Next to an obscuring dust cloud and surrounded by reddish hydrogen
   emission from large [8]H II region RCW 27 it lies within a complex of
   [9]dusty molecular clouds known as the [10]Vela Molecular Ridge.
   [11]NGC 2626 is itself a cloud of interstellar dust reflecting blue
   light from the young hot embedded star visible within the nebula. But
   astronomical [12]explorations reveal many other young stars and
   associated nebulae in the star-forming region. NGC 2626 is about 3,200
   light-years away. At that distance this telescopic field of view would
   span about 30 light-years along the [13]Vela Molecular Ridge.

                   Tomorrow's picture: moon by planetlight
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    Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([28]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [29]Specific rights apply.
              [30]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC,
                         [34]NASA Science Activation
                           & [35]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2302/NGC_2626_CDK_700_II_20_Jan_2023.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.facebook.com/masterdarksastro/
   5. https://www.hansonastronomy.com/
   6. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=528645579245592&set=a.199974262112727
   7. https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2115a/
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_II_region
   9. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/multimedia/gallery/pia13122.html
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vela_Molecular_Ridge
  11. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000PASP..112.1426M/abstract
  12. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018A%26A...617A..63P/abstract
  13. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008hsf2.book...43P/abstract
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230203.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230204
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230205.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  34. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  35. http://www.mtu.edu/