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.

                               2022 August 12
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                        Portrait of the Eagle Nebula
              Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Charles Bonafilia

   Explanation: A star cluster around 2 million years young surrounded by
   natal clouds of dust and glowing gas, [5]Messier 16 (M16) is also known
   as The Eagle Nebula. [6]This beautifully detailed image of the region
   adopts the colorful Hubble palette and includes [7]cosmic sculptures
   made famous in Hubble Space Telescope close-ups of the starforming
   complex. Described as elephant trunks or [8]Pillars of Creation, dense,
   dusty columns rising near the center are light-years in length but are
   gravitationally contracting to form stars. Energetic radiation from the
   cluster stars erodes material near the tips, eventually exposing the
   embedded new stars. Extending from the ridge of bright emission left of
   center is another dusty starforming column known as the [9]Fairy of
   Eagle Nebula. M16 lies about 7,000 light-years away, an easy target for
   binoculars or small telescopes in a [10]nebula rich part of the sky
   toward the split constellation [11]Serpens Cauda (the tail of the
   snake). As framed, this telescopic portrait of the Eagle Nebula is
   about 70 light-years across.

                 Tomorrow's picture: small moon, big crater
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    Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([26]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [27]Specific rights apply.
              [28]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important 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/2208/M16_final.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.instagram.com/_ethereal_astro/
   5. http://messier.seds.org/m/m016.html
   6. https://www.astrobin.com/crwfjb/0/
   7. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eagle_Nebula_4xHubble_WikiSky.jpg
   8. https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/1995/news-1995-44.html
   9. https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2005/12/1693-Image.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130712.html
  11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpens
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220811.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220812
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220813.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  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/