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. 2020 November 5 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. North of Orion's Belt Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Terry Hancock (Grand Mesa Observatory) Explanation: Bright stars, interstellar clouds of dust and glowing nebulae fill [5]this cosmic scene, a skyscape just north of [6]Orion's belt. Close to the plane of our [7]Milky Way Galaxy, the wide field view spans just under 5 degrees or about 10 full moons on the sky. Striking [8]bluish M78, a reflection nebula, is at the lower right. M78's tint is due to dust preferentially reflecting the blue light of hot, young stars. In colorful contrast, the red swath of glowing hydrogen gas streaming through the center is part of the region's faint but [9]extensive emission nebula known as Barnard's Loop. At upper left, a dark dust cloud forms a prominent silhouette cataloged as [10]LDN 1622. While M78 and the complex Barnard's Loop are some 1,500 light-years away, LDN 1622 is likely to be much closer, only about 500 light-years distant from our fair planet Earth. Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space __________________________________________________________________ [11]< | [12]Archive | [13]Submissions | [14]Index | [15]Search | [16]Calendar | [17]RSS | [18]Education | [19]About APOD | [20]Discuss | [21]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell ([25]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [26]Specific rights apply. [27]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [28]ASD at [29]NASA / [30]GSFC & [31]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2011/M78_LDN1622_BarnardsLoop_SEP27_28_Oct15_final2048.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://grandmesaobservatory.com/ 5. https://www.astrobin.com/l6m1vn/0/?nc=user 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171123.html 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201021.html 8. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/messier-78 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190821.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200221.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201104.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.nasa.gov/apod.rss 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=201105 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201106.html 22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 28. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 29. https://www.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 31. http://www.mtu.edu/