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 April 28 [2]A star field with a few red wisps surrounds a nebula that has many several dark components each of which has a dark head closer to the top of the image. A red glow is brightest near the top of each component. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. CG 30: Cometary Globules Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Marcelo Salemme Explanation: They're like mountain peaks, but they are forming stars. Bright-rimmed, flowing shapes gather near the center of this rich starfield toward the borders of the nautical southern [4]constellations Puppis and Vela. Composed of interstellar gas and [5]dust, the grouping of light-year sized cometary globules is about 1300 [6]light-years distant. Energetic [7]ultraviolet light from nearby hot stars [8]has molded the globules and ionized their bright rims. [9]The globules also stream away from the [10]Vela supernova remnant which may have influenced their swept-back shapes. Within them, cores of cold gas and [11]dust are likely [12]collapsing to form low mass stars whose formation will ultimately cause the [13]globules to disperse. In fact, cometary globule CG 30 (upper right in the group) sports a small reddish glow inside its head, [14]a telltale sign of energetic jets from a [15]star in the early stages [16]of formation. Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [17]< | [18]Archive | [19]Submissions | [20]Index | [21]Search | [22]Calendar | [23]RSS | [24]Education | [25]About APOD | [26]Discuss | [27]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [28]Robert Nemiroff ([29]MTU) & [30]Jerry Bonnell ([31]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [32]Specific rights apply. [33]NASA Web Privacy, [34]Accessibility, [35]Notices; A service of: [36]ASD at [37]NASA / [38]GSFC, [39]NASA Science Activation & [40]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2604/CG30Globules_Salamme_2772.jpg 3. https://www.astromgs.com/ 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argo_Navis 5. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/dust-in-the-stellar-wind-a-cosmological-primer/ 6. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/ 7. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves/ 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071215.html 9. http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0502285 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190110.html 11. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/d/Dust+Grain 12. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BUCOEePIcAAht9h.jpg 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230104.html 14. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1990MNRAS.242..419S/abstract 15. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/stars/ 16. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_formation 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260427.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 21. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 23. https://apod.com/feed.rss 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 26. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260428 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260429.html 28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 31. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 33. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 34. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 35. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 36. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 37. https://www.nasa.gov/ 38. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 39. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 40. http://www.mtu.edu/