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. 2019 July 28 [2]See Explanation. Moving the cursor over the image will bring up an annotated version. Clicking on the image will bring up the highest resolution version available. The North America Nebula in Infrared Image Credit & Copyright: [3]NASA, [4]JPL-Caltech, [5]L. Rebull ([6]SSC, Caltech); Optical Rollover: [7]DSS, D. De Martin Explanation: The North America Nebula can do what most North Americans cannot -- form stars. Precisely where in [8]the nebula these stars are forming has been mostly obscured by some of the nebula's thick dust that is opaque to visible light. However, a [9]view of the [10]North America Nebula in [11]infrared light by the orbiting [12]Spitzer Space Telescope has [13]peered through much of the dust and uncovered thousands of newly formed stars. Rolling your cursor over the [14]above scientifically-colored infrared image will bring up a [15]corresponding optical image of the same region for [16]comparison. The [17]infrared image neatly captures young stars in many stages of formation, from being imbedded in dense [18]knots of gas and dust, to being surrounded by [19]disks and emitted [20]jets, to being [21]clear of their birth cocoons. The [22]North America Nebula ([23]NGC 7000) spans about 50 [24]light years and lies about 1,500 light years away toward the [25]constellation of the Swan ([26]Cygnus). Still, of all the stars known in the North America Nebula, which massive stars emit the energetic light that gives the ionized [27]red glow is still [28]debated. Tomorrow's picture: lightning vs volcano __________________________________________________________________ [29]< | [30]Archive | [31]Submissions | [32]Index | [33]Search | [34]Calendar | [35]RSS | [36]Education | [37]About APOD | [38]Discuss | [39]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [40]Robert Nemiroff ([41]MTU) & [42]Jerry Bonnell ([43]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [44]Specific rights apply. [45]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [46]ASD at [47]NASA / [48]GSFC & [49]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1907/northamerica_spitzer_3000.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ 5. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/mission/profile/30-Luisa-Rebull 6. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/ 7. https://archive.stsci.edu/dss/ 8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD57_9r-u4I 9. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/3508-ssc2011-03a-Changing-Face-of-the-North-America-Nebula 10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America_Nebula 11. http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ir_tutorial/what_is_ir.html 12. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/mission/32-Mission-Overview 13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mV4ecEbV1s#t=2m38s 14. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/news/1249-ssc2011-03-New-View-of-Family-Life-in-the-North-American-Nebula 15. http://www.skyfactory.org/ngc7000/ngc7000.htm 16. http://s3.media.squarespace.com/production/465215/5327199/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/3705840490_b30241110d_b.jpg 17. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011arXiv1102.0573R 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100919.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100703.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100426.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060206.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000501.html 23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America_Nebula 24. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html 25. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation 26. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_(constellation) 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090630.html 28. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005A&A...430..541C/abstract 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190727.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 38. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190728 39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190729.html 40. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 41. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 42. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 43. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 44. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 45. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 46. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 47. https://www.nasa.gov/ 48. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 49. http://www.mtu.edu/