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 November 17
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                    Young Stars in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud
               Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]JPL-Caltech, [5]WISE

   Explanation: How do stars form? To help find out, astronomers created
   this tantalizing false-color composition of dust clouds and embedded
   newborn stars in [6]infrared wavelengths with WISE, the [7]Wide-field
   Infrared Survey Explorer. The [8]cosmic canvas features one of the
   closest star forming regions, part of the Rho Ophiuchi [9]cloud complex
   some 400 light-years distant near the southern edge of the
   [10]pronounceable constellation [11]Ophiuchus. After forming along a
   [12]large cloud of cold molecular hydrogen gas, young stars heat the
   surrounding dust to produce the infrared glow. Stars in the process of
   formation, called young stellar objects or [13]YSOs, are embedded in
   the compact pinkish nebulae seen here, but are otherwise hidden from
   the [14]prying eyes of optical telescopes. An [15]exploration of the
   region in penetrating infrared light has detected emerging and newly
   formed stars whose average age is estimated to be a mere 300,000 years.
   That's extremely young compared to the [16]Sun's age of 5 billion
   years. The prominent reddish nebula at the lower right surrounding the
   star [17]Sigma Scorpii is a reflection nebula produced by dust
   scattering starlight. This view from WISE, released in 2012, [18]spans
   almost 2 degrees and covers about 14 light-years at the estimated
   distance of the [19]Rho Ophiuchi cloud.

                      Tomorrow's picture: distant flyby
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    Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([34]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [35]Specific rights apply.
              [36]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC
                           & [40]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1911/RhoOph_WISE_1600.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
   5. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/main/index.html
   6. http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ir_tutorial/what_is_ir.html
   7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide-field_Infrared_Survey_Explorer
   8. https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1234c/
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070903.html
  10. http://www.astronomyclub.org/learn/Say_What.htm
  11. http://hawastsoc.org/deepsky/oph/index.html
  12. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_stellar_object
  14. http://cacuvoqigo.top/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/cat-fish-bowl-head-shot-of-looking-through-at-goldfish-preview-fantasy-toy.jpg
  15. http://arxiv.org/abs/0709.3492
  16. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/in-depth/
  17. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/alniyat-s.html
  18. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/scale.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190513.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191116.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  29. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=191117
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191118.html
  31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  37. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  40. http://www.mtu.edu/