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.

                               2024 January 15
   [2]A cluster of stars is shown along with surrounding nebular gas a and
   dust. Shown in infrared light in pink, the dust winds around the nebula
   center and itself appears composed of many finer filaments. Please see
               the explanation for more detailed information.

                        Star Cluster IC 348 from Webb
      Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]CSA, [6]STScI, and [7]K. Luhman
          ([8]Penn State U.) and [9]C. Alves de Oliveira ([10]ESA)

   Explanation: Sometimes, it's the stars that are the hardest to see that
   are the most interesting. [11]IC 348 is a young star cluster that
   illuminates surrounding filamentary dust. The stringy and winding dust
   appears pink in [12]this recently released infrared image from the
   [13]Webb Space Telescope. In [14]visible light, this dust reflects
   mostly blue light, giving [15]the surrounding material the familiar
   blue hue of a reflection nebula. Besides bright stars, several cool
   objects have been located in IC 348, visible because they glow brighter
   in [16]infrared light. These objects are hypothesized to be low mass
   [17]brown dwarfs. [18]Evidence for this includes the detection of an
   [19]unidentified atmospheric chemical, likely a hydrocarbon, seen
   previously in the [20]atmosphere of [21]Saturn. These objects appear to
   have masses slightly greater than known planets, only a few times
   greater than [22]Jupiter. Together, these indicate that this young
   [23]star cluster contains something noteworthy -- young planet-mass
   [24]brown dwarfs that float free, not orbiting any other star.

                      Tomorrow's picture: almost orion
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    Authors & editors: [36]Robert Nemiroff ([37]MTU) & [38]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([39]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Ryan Smallcomb [40]Specific rights apply.
              [41]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [42]ASD at [43]NASA / [44]GSFC,
                         [45]NASA Science Activation
                           & [46]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2401/IC348_webb_3788.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.esa.int/
   5. https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/
   6. https://www.stsci.edu/
   7. https://science.psu.edu/astro/people/kll207
   8. https://science.psu.edu/astro
   9. https://c-alvesdeoliveira.com/
  10. https://www.esa.int/
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_348
  12. https://esawebb.org/images/weic2331a/
  13. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/
  14. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight/
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230112.html
  16. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/07_infraredwaves/
  17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_dwarf
  18. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024AJ....167...19L/abstract
  19. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/banner-three-pets-atttentive-thinking-600nw-2136132101.jpg
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110119.html
  21. https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220828.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230707.html
  24. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/articles/what-makes-brown-dwarfs-unique
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240114.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  31. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  34. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240115
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240116.html
  36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  38. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  39. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  40. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  42. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  45. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  46. http://www.mtu.edu/