September Total Lunar Eclipse Sequence

Aurora over Scotland js

M106 // NGC 4258

Also visible: NGC 4217 (bottom right)

Psychedelic Pluto : New Horizons scientists made this false color image of Pluto using a technique called principal component analysis to highlight the many subtle color differences between Plutos distinct regions.

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Anthropologists were right. 😜

Source(s)

The California Nebula

no place like home

Earth and moon interconnected with starfield.

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NGC 6823: Cloud Sculpting Star Cluster : Star cluster NGC 6823 is slowly turning gas clouds into stars. The center of the open cluster, visible on the upper right, formed only about two million years ago and is dominated in brightness by a host of bright young blue stars. Some outer parts of the cluster, visible in the featured images center as the stars and pillars of emission nebula NGC 6820, contain even younger stars. The huge pillars of gas and dust likely get their elongated shape by erosion from hot radiation emitted from the brightest cluster stars. Striking dark globules of gas and dust are also visible across the upper left of the featured image. Open star cluster NGC 6823 spans about 50 light years and lies about 6000 light years away toward the constellation of the Fox . via NASA

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IC 1871: Inside the Soul Nebula : This cosmic close-up looks deep inside the Soul Nebula. The dark and brooding dust clouds outlined by bright ridges of glowing gas are cataloged as IC 1871. About 25 light-years across, the telescopic field of view spans only a small part of the much larger Heart and Soul nebulae. At an estimated distance of 6,500 light-years the star-forming complex lies within the Perseus spiral arm of the Milky Way, seen in planet Earth’s skies toward the constellation Cassiopeia. An example of triggered star formation, the dense star-forming clouds of IC 1871 are themselves sculpted by the intense winds and radiation of the region’s massive young stars. This color image adopts a palette made popular in Hubble images of star-forming regions. via NASA

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