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Dec 1, 2015
Nebulae in Aurigae
Image Credit & Copyright: Fritz Helmut Hemmerich
Courtesy of http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Nebulae in Aurigae
Image Credit & Copyright: Fritz Helmut Hemmerich
Courtesy of http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Rich in star clusters and nebulae, the ancient
constellation of the Charioteer
(Auriga)
rides high in northern winter night skies.
Composed from narrow and broadband filter data and
spanning nearly 8 Full Moons (4 degrees) on the sky,
this deep telescopic view shows off some of Auriga's celestial bounty.
The field includes emission region
IC 405 (top left) about 1,500
light-years distant.
Also known as the Flaming Star Nebula,
its red, convoluted clouds of glowing hydrogen gas are energized by hot
O-type star
AE Aurigae.
IC 410 (top right)
is significantly more distant, some 12,000 light-years away.
The star forming region is famous for its embedded young star cluster,
NGC 1893,
and tadpole-shaped clouds of dust and gas.
IC 417 and NGC 1931 at the lower right,
the Spider and the Fly, are also young star
clusters embedded in natal clouds that lie far beyond IC 405.
Star cluster NGC 1907
is near the bottom edge of the frame, just right of center.
The crowded field of view looks along the plane of our
Milky Way
galaxy, near the direction of the
galactic anticenter.