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.

                               2021 October 29
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                         Haunting the Cepheus Flare
                  Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Leo Shatz

   Explanation: [5]Spooky shapes seem to haunt this dusty expanse,
   drifting through the night in the royal constellation [6]Cepheus. Of
   course, the shapes are cosmic dust clouds visible in dimly reflected
   starlight. Far from [7]your own neighborhood, they lurk above the plane
   of the Milky Way at the edge of the [8]Cepheus Flare molecular cloud
   complex some 1,200 light-years away. Over 2 light-years across and
   brighter than most of the other ghostly apparitions, vdB 141 or Sh2-136
   is also known as the [9]Ghost Nebula, seen at the right of the starry
   field of view. Inside the nebula are the telltale signs of dense cores
   collapsing in the early stages [10]of star formation. With the eerie
   hue of dust reflecting bluish light from hot young stars of [11]NGC
   7023, the Iris Nebula stands out against the dark just left of center.
   [12]In the broad telescopic frame, these fertile interstellar dust
   fields stretch almost seven full moons across the sky.

                   Tomorrow's picture: of light and shadow
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    Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([27]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [28]Specific rights apply.
              [29]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC
                           & [33]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2110/IrisGhost_LeoShatz_RevB.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.astrobin.com/users/spinlock/
   5. https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/galaxy-of-horrors/
   6. http://www.dibonsmith.com/cep_con.htm
   7. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/1546/sinister-solar-system/
   8. http://arxiv.org/abs/0809.4761
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111031.html
  10. https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/science/birth.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210903.html
  12. https://www.astrobin.com/b8gftp/C/
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211028.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  22. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=211029
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211030.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  33. http://www.mtu.edu/