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 August 22
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                         The Dark Tower in Scorpius
                 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Mike Selby

   Explanation: In silhouette against a crowded star field along the tail
   of the arachnological constellation [5]Scorpius, this dusty cosmic
   cloud evokes for some the image of an [6]ominous dark tower. In fact,
   monstrous clumps of dust and molecular gas [7]collapsing to form stars
   may well lurk within the dark nebula, a structure that spans almost 40
   light-years across this [8]gorgeous telescopic portrait. A [9]cometary
   globule, the swept-back cloud is shaped by intense ultraviolet
   radiation from the [10]OB association of very [11]hot stars in NGC
   6231, off the upper right corner of the scene. That energetic
   ultraviolet light also powers the globule's bordering reddish glow of
   [12]hydrogen gas. Hot stars embedded in the dust can be seen as bluish
   [13]reflection nebulae. This dark tower and associated nebulae are
   about 5,000 light-years away.

          Growing Gallery: [14]Moon Eclipses Saturn in August 2024
                      Tomorrow's picture: a dark pulsar
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    Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([29]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [30]Specific rights apply.
               [31]NASA Web Privacy, [32]Accessibility Notices
                A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC,
                         [36]NASA Science Activation
                           & [37]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2408/DarkTowerCDK700-Selby.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://throughlightandtime.com/about/
   5. http://hawastsoc.org/deepsky/sco/index.html
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childe_Roland_to_the_Dark_Tower_Came
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210630.html
   8. https://throughlightandtime.com/dark-tower-cdk-700-ii-lrgb-ha-rev-1-30-july-2024/
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240716.html
  10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_association#Types
  11. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2018/ngc6231/index.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap051223.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011228.html
  14. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.494549516606964&type=3
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240821.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  24. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240822
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240823.html
  26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  36. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  37. http://www.mtu.edu/