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Credit & Copyright: Frank Sackenheim, Josef Poepsel, Stefan Binnewies
(Capella Observatory Team)
Explanation:
Part of a dark expanse that splits
the crowded plane of our Milky Way galaxy, the Aquila Rift arcs
through planet Earth's skies
near bright star
Altair.
In eerie silhouette against the Milky Way's faint
starlight,
its dusty molecular clouds likely contain raw material
to form hundreds of thousands of stars and
astronomers search
the dark clouds for telltale signs of star birth.
This
telescopic close-up
looks toward the region at a
fragmented Aquila dark cloud complex identified as LDN 673,
stretching across a field of view slightly wider than the full moon.
In the scene, visible indications of
energetic outflows associated
with young stars
include the small red tinted nebulosity RNO 109 above and right of
center, and Herbig-Haro object
HH32 below.
These dark
clouds might look scary,
but they're estimated to be some 600 light-years away.
At that distance, this field of view spans about 7 light-years.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: dark nebula
Publications with words: dark nebula
See also: