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 July 11
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                     Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud
                 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Chuck Ayoub

   Explanation: [5]Unlike most entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog
   of deep sky objects, [6]M24 is not a bright galaxy, star cluster, or
   nebula. It's a gap in nearby, obscuring interstellar dust clouds that
   allows a view of the distant stars in the Sagittarius spiral arm of our
   Milky Way galaxy. [7]Direct your gaze through this gap with binoculars
   or a small telescope and you are looking through a window over 300
   light-years wide at stars some 10,000 light-years or more from Earth.
   Sometimes called the [8]Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, M24's luminous
   stars stretch across this gorgeous interstellar scene. Spanning over
   four full moons on the sky toward the constellation Sagittarius, the
   telescopic field of view includes [9]dark markings B92 and B93 [10]near
   the center of M24, along with other clouds of dust and glowing nebulae
   toward the center of the Milky Way.

                   Tomorrow's picture: shells and streams
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      Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([24]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [25]Specific rights apply.
            [26]NASA Web Privacy, [27]Accessibility, [28]Notices;
                A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC,
                         [32]NASA Science Activation
                           & [33]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2607/M24.png
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.youtube.com/chucksastrophotography
   5. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/
   6. http://www.messier.seds.org/m/m024.html
   7. https://oneminuteastronomer.com/4460/small-sagittarius-star-cloud/
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Sagittarius_Star_Cloud
   9. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1919ApJ....49....1B/abstract
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100708.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260710.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  17. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  20. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260711
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260712.html
  22. https://www.mtu.edu/physics/department/faculty/nemiroff/
  23. https://www.mtu.edu/physics
  24. https://www.astro.umd.edu/
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  26. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  32. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  33. http://www.mtu.edu/