In today's image, we see the star forming region known as the Cocoon Nebula. In the central region here, new stars are in the process of formation. Their energy then clears away the remaining dust and gas so that, in hundreds of thousands of years, only a new star cluster will remain.

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This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

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