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. 2024 March 13 [2]A starfield features a large nebula, mostly red, partly blue, which seems to have the shape of a bird. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. The Seagull Nebula Credit & Copyright: [3]Gianni Lacroce Explanation: A broad expanse of glowing gas and dust presents a bird-like visage to astronomers [4]from planet Earth, suggesting its popular moniker: the [5]Seagull Nebula. [6]This portrait of the [7]cosmic bird covers a 1.6-degree wide swath across the plane of the Milky Way, [8]near the direction of [9]Sirius, the alpha star of the constellation of the Big Dog ([10]Canis Major). Of course, [11]the region includes objects with other catalog designations: notably [12]NGC 2327, a compact, dusty emission and reflection nebula with an embedded massive star that forms the [13]bird's head. Dominated by the [14]reddish glow of atomic [15]hydrogen, the complex of gas and dust clouds with bright young stars spans over 100 [16]light-years at an estimated 3,800 [17]light-year distance. Almost Hyperspace: [18]Random APOD Generator Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [19]< | [20]Archive | [21]Submissions | [22]Index | [23]Search | [24]Calendar | [25]RSS | [26]Education | [27]About APOD | [28]Discuss | [29]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [30]Robert Nemiroff ([31]MTU) & [32]Jerry Bonnell ([33]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn; [34]Specific rights apply. [35]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [36]ASD at [37]NASA / [38]GSFC, [39]NASA Science Activation & [40]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2403/Seagull_Lacroce_2048.jpg 3. https://www.flickr.com/photos/194921065@N03/ 4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090411.html 5. https://www.nebulaphotos.com/ngc-ic/ic2177/ 6. https://www.flickr.com/photos/194921065@N03/ 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230620.html 8. http://www.eanet.com/kodama/astro/2007/0216a/index.htm 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161215.html 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canis_Major 11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLW7uPs7hS0 12. https://theskylive.com/sky/deepsky/ngc2327-object 13. https://petcube.com/blog/content/images/2021/03/IMG_1796--1-.png 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen-alpha 15. https://periodic.lanl.gov/1.shtml 16. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/ 17. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/random_apod.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240312.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 23. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 25. https://apod.com/feed.rss 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 28. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240313 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240314.html 30. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 32. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 33. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 35. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 36. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 37. https://www.nasa.gov/ 38. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 39. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 40. http://www.mtu.edu/