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Credit & Copyright: Dominique
Dierick and Dirk De la Marche
Explanation:
In the lower left corner, dressed in blue, is the
Pleiades.
Also known as the
Seven
Sisters and
M45,
the Pleiades
is one of the brightest and
most
easily visible
open clusters
on the sky.
The Pleiades
contains over 3000 stars, is about 400 light years away, and only 13 light
years across.
Surrounding the
stars is a spectacular blue
reflection nebula
made of fine
dust.
A
common legend is that one of the brighter stars
faded since the cluster was named.
In the upper right corner, dressed in red, the California Nebula. Named
for its shape, the California Nebula is much dimmer and hence harder to see
than the Pleiades. Also known as NGC 1499, this mass of red glowing
hydrogen gas is about 1500 light years away.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day