North of Orion’s Belt

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2020 November 5

North of Orion’s Belt
Image Credit &
Copyright: Terry Hancock
(Grand Mesa Observatory)

Explanation: Bright stars, interstellar clouds of dust and glowing nebulae fill
this cosmic scene,
a skyscape just north of Orion’s belt. Close to the plane of our
Milky Way Galaxy,
the wide field view spans just under 5 degrees or about 10 full moons on
the sky. Striking
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
extensive emission nebula
known as Barnard’s Loop. At upper left, a dark dust cloud forms a prominent silhouette
cataloged as 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

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