Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2018 August 30
                                      [2]
                            The NGC 6914 Complex
                 Image Credit & Copyright [3] : Ivan Eder [4]

Explanation: A study in contrasts, this colorful skyscape [5]  features stars,
dust, and glowing gas [6] in the vicinity of NGC 6914. The complex of
reflection nebulae [7]  lies some 6,000 light-years away, toward the
high-flying northern constellation Cygnus and the plane [8]  of our Milky Way
Galaxy. Obscuring interstellar dust clouds appear in silhouette while reddish
hydrogen emission nebulae [9] , along with the dusty blue reflection nebulae
[10] , fill the cosmic canvas. Ultraviolet radiation from the massive, hot,
young stars of the extensive Cygnus OB2 [11] association ionize the region's
atomic hydrogen gas [12] , producing the characteristic red glow as protons
and electrons recombine. Embedded Cygnus OB2 stars also provide the blue
starlight strongly reflected by the dust clouds. The nearly 1 degree wide
telescopic field of view spans about 100 light-years at the estimated distance
of NGC 6914.

                      Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [24] (MTU [25] ) & Jerry Bonnell [26]
                                  (UMCP [27] )
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1808/NGC6914_Eder.jpg
  [3] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [4] http://www.astroeder.com/
  [5] http://www.astroeder.com/ngc6914-ccd-eder-en....
  [6] https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-a...
how-do-stars-form-and-evolve
  [7] http://pixinsight.com/gallery/NGC6914-CAHA/in...
  [8] ap070920.html
  [9] http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/E/Emissio...
  [10] http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/E/Reflect...
  [11] http://arxiv.org/abs/1003.2463
  [12] ap051223.html
  [13] ap180829.html
  [14] archivepix.html
  [15] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [16] lib/aptree.html
  [17] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
  [18] calendar/allyears.html
  [19] /apod.rss
  [20] lib/edlinks.html
  [21] lib/about_apod.html
  [22] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
  [23] ap180831.html
  [24] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [25] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [26] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
  [27] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [28] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [29] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
  [30] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [31] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [32] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [33] http://www.mtu.edu/

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