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 March 2 [2]The featured image shows a dusty starfield with intricate dust filaments all over. Red, blue, and brown nebulas will the field. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. The Dusty Surroundings of Orion and the Pleiades Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Ignacio Fernández Explanation: How well do you know the night sky? OK, but how well can you identify famous sky objects in a [4]very deep image? Either way, here is a test: see if you can find some well-known [5]night-sky icons in a deep image filled with filaments of normally faint [6]dust and gas. [7]This image contains the [8]Pleiades star cluster, [9]Barnard's Loop, [10]Orion Nebula, [11]Aldebaran, [12]Betelgeuse, [13]Witch Head Nebula, [14]Eridanus Loop, and the [15]California Nebula. To find their real locations, [16]here is an annotated image version. The reason this [17]task might be difficult is similar to the reason it is initially hard to identify familiar [18]constellations in a very [19]dark sky: the tapestry of our night sky has an extremely deep [20]hidden complexity. The [21]featured composite reveals some of [22]this complexity in a 16 hours of sky exposure in dark skies over [23]Granada, [24]Spain. Tonight: [25]Total Lunar Eclipse Tomorrow's picture: over Mars __________________________________________________________________ [26]< | [27]Archive | [28]Submissions | [29]Index | [30]Search | [31]Calendar | [32]RSS | [33]Education | [34]About APOD | [35]Discuss | [36]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell ([40]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [41]Specific rights apply. [42]NASA Web Privacy, [43]Accessibility, [44]Notices; A service of: [45]ASD at [46]NASA / [47]GSFC, [48]NASA Science Activation & [49]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/DustyOrionPleiades_Fernandez_5000.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/igneis.nightscapes/ 4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250302.html 5. https://science.nasa.gov/skywatching/whats-up/ 6. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/dust-in-the-stellar-wind-a-cosmological-primer/ 7. https://www.instagram.com/p/DHmDOSZsc9S/ 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260223.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090224.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251113.html 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldebaran 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200511.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231004.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200323.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250310.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/DustyOrionPleiades_Fernandez_960_annotated.jpg 17. https://science.nasa.gov/citizen-science/ 18. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/constellations/ 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200408.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230717.html 21. https://www.instagram.com/p/DHmDOSZsc9S/ 22. https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article27598932.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200d/1_SWNS_SURPRISED_DOG_008.jpg 23. https://youtu.be/bkCD6yfiRwg 24. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain 25. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/march-2026-total-lunar-eclipse-your-questions-answered/ 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260301.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 32. https://apod.com/feed.rss 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 35. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260302 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260303.html 37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 43. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 45. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 46. https://www.nasa.gov/ 47. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 48. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 49. http://www.mtu.edu/