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.

                                2025 August 1
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                              Small Dark Nebula
               Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Peter Bresseler

   Explanation: [5]A small, dark, nebula looks isolated near the center of
   this telescopic close-up. The wedge-shaped cosmic cloudlet lies within
   a relatively crowded region of space though. About 7,000 light-years
   distant and filled with glowing gas and an embedded cluster of young
   stars, the region is known as M16 or [6]the Eagle Nebula. [7]Hubble's
   iconic images of the Eagle Nebula include the famous star-forming
   [8]Pillars of Creation, towering structures of interstellar gas and
   dust 4 to 5 light-years long. But this small dark nebula, known to some
   as [9]a Bok globule, is a fraction of a light-year across. The Bok
   globule stands out in silhouette against the expansive background of
   M16's diffuse glow. Found scattered within emission nebulae and star
   clusters, Bok globules are small interstellar clouds of cold molecular
   gas and obscuring dust that also form stars within their dense,
   [10]collapsing cores.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([25]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [26]Specific rights apply.
            [27]NASA Web Privacy, [28]Accessibility, [29]Notices;
                A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC,
                         [33]NASA Science Activation
                           & [34]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2508/BokGlobule_1.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://pixlimit.com/
   5. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1947ApJ...105..255B/abstract
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230515.html
   7. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/universe-uncovered/hubble-nebulae/
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241022.html
   9. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1947ApJ...105..255B/abstract
  10. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Astro/gravc.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250731.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.com/feed.rss
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  20. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250801
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250802.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://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  33. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  34. http://www.mtu.edu/