The Dark Seahorse in Cepheus
Image Credit & Copyright: Valerio Avitabile
Explanation: Light-years across, this suggestive shape known as the Seahorse Nebula appears in silhouette against a rich, luminous background of stars. Seen toward the royal northern constellation of Cepheus, the dusty, obscuring clouds are part of a Milky Way molecular cloud some 1,200 light-years distant. It is also listed as Barnard 150 (B150), one of 182 dark markings of the sky cataloged in the early 20th century by astronomer E. E. Barnard. Packs of low mass stars are forming within, but their collapsing cores are only visible at long infrared wavelengths. Still, the colorful stars of Cepheus add to this pretty, galactic skyscape.
Tomorrow’s picture: light-weekend
黝黑的仙王座海马星云
影像提供与版权: Valerio Avitabile
说明: 这个长数光年，形状深具暗示性的天体，是以黝黑剪影之姿出现在仙王座明亮背景繁星前方的海马星云。这团位在北天仙王座方向的不透光尘埃云，为距离约1,200光年远的一团银河分子云之成员。在天文学家巴纳德于20世纪初编录的暗星云表里，编录号为巴纳德150（B150）的这团星云，是其中的182个暗星云之1。在其内，藏有处于形成阶段的成群小质量恒星，不过它们塌缩中的星核，只有在远红外线波段才可见。不论如何，视野内这些色彩缤纷的仙王座恒星，为这片美丽的银河星野增添了不少风采。
明日的图片: light-weekend
