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 30
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                    NGC 1333: Stellar Nursery in Perseus
                 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Robert Eder

   Explanation: NGC 1333 is seen in visible light as a [5]reflection
   nebula, dominated by bluish hues characteristic of starlight reflected
   by interstellar dust. A mere 1,000 light-years distant toward the
   heroic constellation [6]Perseus, it lies at the edge of a large,
   [7]star-forming molecular cloud. [8]This telescopic close-up spans over
   two full moons on the sky or just over 15 light-years at the estimated
   distance of NGC 1333. It shows details of the dusty region along with
   telltale hints of contrasty red emission from [9]Herbig-Haro objects,
   [10]jets and shocked glowing gas emanating from recently formed stars.
   In fact, NGC 1333 contains hundreds of stars less than a million years
   old, most still [11]hidden from optical telescopes by the [12]pervasive
   stardust. The chaotic environment may be similar to one in which our
   own Sun formed over 4.5 billion years ago.

                      Tomorrow's picture: flight day 13
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    Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([27]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [28]Specific rights apply.
            [29]NASA Web Privacy, [30]Accessibility, [31]Notices;
                A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC,
                         [35]NASA Science Activation
                           & [36]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2601/NGC1333_Robert_Eder.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.astrobin.com/users/Robsi/
   5. http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cms/astro/cosmos/R/Reflection+Nebula
   6. http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/per/index.html
   7. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0602089
   8. https://app.astrobin.com/u/Robsi?i=lcq7o0
   9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbig-Haro_object#Discovery_and_history_of_observations
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240912.html
  11. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/news/224-ssc2005-24-Beautiful-Chaos-of-Star-Birth
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210318.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260129.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  19. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  22. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260130
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260131.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  35. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  36. http://www.mtu.edu/