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 2 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Reflections on the 1970s Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Daniel Stern Explanation: [5]The 1970s are sometimes ignored by astronomers, like this beautiful grouping of reflection nebulae in Orion - NGC 1977, NGC 1975, and NGC 1973 - usually overlooked in favor of the substantial glow from the nearby stellar nursery better known as [6]the Orion Nebula. Found along Orion's sword just north of the bright Orion Nebula complex, these reflection nebulae are also associated with Orion's giant molecular cloud about 1,500 light-years away, but are dominated by the characteristic blue color of interstellar [7]dust reflecting light from hot young stars. In this sharp color image a portion of the Orion Nebula appears along the bottom border with the cluster [8]of reflection nebulae at picture center. [9]NGC 1977 stretches across the field just below center, separated from NGC 1973 (above right) and NGC 1975 (above left) by dark regions laced with faint red emission from hydrogen atoms. Taken together, the dark regions suggest the region's popular moniker, the [10]Running Man Nebula. At the estimated distance of Orion's dusty molecular cloud this running man would be about 15 light-years across. Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space __________________________________________________________________ [11]< | [12]Archive | [13]Submissions | [14]Index | [15]Search | [16]Calendar | [17]RSS | [18]Education | [19]About APOD | [20]Discuss | [21]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell ([25]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [26]Specific rights apply. [27]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [28]ASD at [29]NASA / [30]GSFC, [31]NASA Science Activation & [32]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2302/NGC1975RunningMan.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. mailto:%20dstern%20[at]%20comcast%20[dot]%20ne_ 5. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/elvis/elnix.html 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151229.html 7. http://leo.astronomy.cz/mix/mix.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011228.html 9. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016ApJ...826L..15K/abstract 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh2-279 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230201.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230202 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230203.html 22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 28. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 29. https://www.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 31. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 32. http://www.mtu.edu/