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. 2026 January 22 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. LDN 1622: Dark Nebula in Orion Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Chris Fellows Explanation: The silhouette of an intriguing [5]dark nebula inhabits [6]this cosmic scene. Lynds' Dark Nebula ([7]LDN) 1622 appears against a faint background of glowing hydrogen gas only visible in long telescopic exposures of the region. In contrast, a brighter reflection nebula, [8]vdB 62, is more easily seen just above the dusty dark nebula. LDN 1622 lies near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, close on the sky to [9]Barnard's Loop, a large cloud surrounding the rich complex of emission nebulae found in the Belt and Sword [10]of Orion. With swept-back outlines, the obscuring dust of LDN 1622 is thought to lie at a similar distance, perhaps 1,500 light-years away. At that distance, this 3 degree wide field of view would span about 100 light-years. [11]Young stars do lie hidden within the dark expanse and have been revealed in Spitzer Space telescope [12]infrared images. Still, the [13]foreboding visual appearance of LDN 1622 inspires its popular name, [14]the Boogeyman Nebula. Tomorrow's picture: the faint and mostly round __________________________________________________________________ [15]< | [16]Archive | [17]Submissions | [18]Index | [19]Search | [20]Calendar | [21]RSS | [22]Education | [23]About APOD | [24]Discuss | [25]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell ([29]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [30]Specific rights apply. [31]NASA Web Privacy, [32]Accessibility, [33]Notices; A service of: [34]ASD at [35]NASA / [36]GSFC, [37]NASA Science Activation & [38]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2601/ldn1622fellows.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://app.astrobin.com/u/SliverSnake#gallery 5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_nebula 6. https://app.astrobin.com/u/SliverSnake?i=0wg4a0#gallery 7. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1962ApJS....7....1L/abstract 8. https://www.emilivanov.com/CCD Images/Catalog_VdB.htm 9. http://www.messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/b-loop.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101023.html 11. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AJ....137.3843B/abstract 12. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-L1622-cloud-as-seen-by-Spitzer-36-m-blue-8-m-green-and-24-m-red-Emission_fig10_235684871 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogeyman#/media/File:Francisco_de_Goya,_Que_viene_el_coco_(Here_Comes_the_Bogey-Man),_published_1799,_NGA_7459.jpg 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230125.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260121.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 21. https://apod.com/feed.rss 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 24. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260122 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260123.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 32. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 34. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 35. https://www.nasa.gov/ 36. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 37. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 38. http://www.mtu.edu/