Astronomy Photo of the Day
Posted By admin On January 12, 2011 @ 11:16 am In Photo Essays | Comments Disabled
[1]
The Seagull Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright [2]: Michael Sidonio [3]
Explanation: This broad expanse of glowing gas and dust presents a bird-like visage to astronomers from planet Earth [4], suggesting its popular moniker - The Seagull Nebula [5]. This portrait [6] of the cosmic bird covers a 1.6 degree wide swath across the plane of the Milky Way, near the direction [7] of Sirius, alpha star of the constellation Canis Major. Of course, the region includes objects with other catalog designations [8]: notably NGC 2327 [9], a compact, dusty emission region with an embedded massive star that forms the bird’s head (aka the Parrot Nebula, above center). IC 2177 [10] forms the sweeping arc of the seagull’s wings. Dominated by the reddish glow [11] of atomic hydrogen, the complex of gas and dust clouds with bright young stars spans over 100 light-years at an estimated 3,800 light-year distance.
Article printed from Recorder Online: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com
URL to article: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/2011/01/12/astronomy-photo-of-the-day/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/SeaGullLHaRGB_sidonio1500.jpg
[2] Copyright: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
[3] Michael Sidonio: http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002
[4] from planet Earth: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090411.html
[5] The Seagull Nebula: http://www.celestialwonders.com/nebulae/Gum_20090227.html
[6] This portrait: http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/the_sea_gull_nebula
[7] near the direction: http://www.eanet.com/kodama/astro/2007/0216a/index.htm
[8] catalog designations: http://galaxymap.org/cgi-bin/gum.py?s=1
[9] NGC 2327: http://www.skyfactory.org/ic2177/ic2177.htm
[10] IC 2177: http://www.astropix.com/HTML/B_WINTER/IC2177.HTM
[11] reddish glow: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080424.html
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