Todays pic is posted just because it's pretty, no other reasons, no long drawn out explaination, just for the sheer beauty.
Fox Fur, the Unicorn, and a Christmas Tree
Glowing hydrogen gas fills this gorgeously detailed sky view centered on the variable star S Mon in the faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. A star forming region (NGC 2264), the complex jumble of cosmic gas and dust is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes reddish emission nebulae excited by energetic light from newborn stars with dark interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie close to stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue reflection nebulae. The wide vista spans about 1.5 degrees or nearly 3 full moons, covering 70 light-years at the distance of NGC 2264. Its cast of cosmic characters includes the Cone Nebula (far left), the Fox Fur Nebula, whose convoluted pelt lies just below S Mon, and the Christmas Tree star cluster. The triangular Christmas Tree cluster appears sideways here, with its apex at the Cone Nebula and its broader base centered on S Mon.
Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman
A larger version of this piccy can be found here, this is a 304K Jpeg image and makes an excellent desktop piccy
Previous Pic Of The Day posts
27th Feb 03
26th Feb 03
25th Feb 03
24th Feb 03
23rd Feb 03 Courtesy of Biffa
20th Feb 03
19th Feb 03
Fox Fur, the Unicorn, and a Christmas Tree
Glowing hydrogen gas fills this gorgeously detailed sky view centered on the variable star S Mon in the faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. A star forming region (NGC 2264), the complex jumble of cosmic gas and dust is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes reddish emission nebulae excited by energetic light from newborn stars with dark interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie close to stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue reflection nebulae. The wide vista spans about 1.5 degrees or nearly 3 full moons, covering 70 light-years at the distance of NGC 2264. Its cast of cosmic characters includes the Cone Nebula (far left), the Fox Fur Nebula, whose convoluted pelt lies just below S Mon, and the Christmas Tree star cluster. The triangular Christmas Tree cluster appears sideways here, with its apex at the Cone Nebula and its broader base centered on S Mon.
Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman
A larger version of this piccy can be found here, this is a 304K Jpeg image and makes an excellent desktop piccy
Previous Pic Of The Day posts
27th Feb 03
26th Feb 03
25th Feb 03
24th Feb 03
23rd Feb 03 Courtesy of Biffa
20th Feb 03
19th Feb 03
