In today's image, we see Lynds Dark Nebula 1251. This is a region in the very early stages of star formation where stars are just beginning to form in the the densest dark globules present. The protostars imbedded in these are till in the process of formation and will eventually grow large enough and hot enough to become full fledged stars and emerge from the dusty cocoons in which they are currently forming.

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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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