NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day


2023 February 02 - Reflections on the 1970s

February 02, 2023

In today's image, we see three reflection nebulae in the Orion star forming region. These are all in the 1970s of the NGC catalog which would also include NGC 1976 which is the Orion Nebula (not pictured here). A reflections nebula occurs when dust reflects the light from a hot star and preferentially scatters the shorter wavelength blue light giving the nebulae their blue appearance.


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