In this beautiful celestial still life [
http://www.photomee…050208ngc2170a_d.htm ] composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170 [
http://www.seds.org…] shines at the upper left. Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined by other bluish reflection [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] nebulae and a compact red emission [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] region against a backdrop of stars. Like the common household items still life painters [
http://www.artlex.c…1701-1850.html ] often choose for their subjects, the clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars pictured here are also commonly found in this setting - a massive, star-forming molecular cloud in the constellation Monoceros [
http://www.hawastso…]. The giant molecular cloud [
http://archive.ncsa…], Mon R2, is impressively close, estimated [
http://cdsads.u-str…nph-bib_query?2005A& A...430..523W&db_key =AST&nosetcookie=1 ] to be only 2,400 light-years or so away. At that distance, this canvas would be about 15 light-years across.
Explanation
In this beautiful celestial still life [
http://www.photomee…050208ngc2170a_d.htm ] composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170 [
http://www.seds.org…] shines at the upper left. Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined by other bluish reflection [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] nebulae and a compact red emission [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] region against a backdrop of stars. Like the common household items still life painters [
http://www.artlex.c…1701-1850.html ] often choose for their subjects, the clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars pictured here are also commonly found in this setting - a massive, star-forming molecular cloud in the constellation Monoceros [
http://www.hawastso…]. The giant molecular cloud [
http://archive.ncsa…], Mon R2, is impressively close, estimated [
http://cdsads.u-str…nph-bib_query?2005A& A...430..523W&db_key =AST&nosetcookie=1 ] to be only 2,400 light-years or so away. At that distance, this canvas would be about 15 light-years across.
Explanation
