                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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 February 20
    A starfield with a light, orange-tinged background has a dark nebula
   that looks like a flying ghost visible near the middle. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                       B93: A Dark Interstellar Ghost
       Image Credit & Copyright: Christian Bertincourt; Text: Keighley
                Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

   Explanation: "A ghost in the Milky Way…” says Christian Bertincourt,
   the astrophotographer behind this striking image of Barnard 93 (B93).
   The 93rd entry in Barnard’s Catalogue of Dark Nebulae, B93 lies within
   the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud (Messier 24), where its darkness
   stands in stark contrast to bright stars and gas in the background. In
   some ways, B93 is really like a ghost, because it contains gas and dust
   that was dispersed by the deaths of stars, like supernovas. B93 appears
   as a dark void not because it is empty, but because its dust blocks the
   light emitted by more distant stars and glowing gas. Like other dark
   nebulas, some gas from B93, if dense and massive enough, will
   eventually gravitationally condense to form new stars. If so, then once
   these stars ignite, B93 will transform from a dark ghost into a
   brilliant cradle of newborn stars.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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