Astronomy Picture of the Day - Seven Dusty Sisters

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-09-29 20:34:46 | Updated at 2024-09-30 05:19:32 8 hours ago

Astronomy Picture of the Day - Seven Dusty Sisters
NASA ^ | 29 Sep, 2024 | Image Credit: WISE, IRSA, NASA; Processing & Copyright : Francesco Antonucci

Posted on 09/29/2024 1:20:38 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: Is this really the famous Pleiades star cluster? Known for its iconic blue stars, the Pleiades is shown here in infrared light where the surrounding dust outshines the stars. Here, three infrared colors have been mapped into visual colors (R=24, G=12, B=4.6 microns). The base images were taken by NASA's orbiting Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft. Cataloged as M45 and nicknamed the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades star cluster is by chance situated in a passing dust cloud. The light and winds from the massive Pleiades stars preferentially repel smaller dust particles, causing the dust to become stratified into filaments, as seen. The featured image spans about 20 light years at the distance of the Pleiades, which lies about 450 light years distant toward the constellation of the Bull (Taurus).

TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 09/29/2024 1:20:38 PM PDT by MtnClimber

To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 09/29/2024 1:20:58 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page. More photos added.)

To: MtnClimber

3 posted on 09/29/2024 1:21:17 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page. More photos added.)

To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; Agatsu77; America_Right; ...

Pinging the APOD list

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4 posted on 09/29/2024 1:22:05 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page. More photos added.)

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