Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2025 November 19
   [2]The featured image shows a dark nebula complex involving thick dust
                      appearing brown and making a big

                           Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas
           Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Xinran Li & [4]Houbo Zhao

   Explanation: Sometimes the dark dust of interstellar space has an
   angular elegance. Such is the case toward the far-south
   [5]constellation of Chamaeleon. Normally [6]too faint to see, dark dust
   is best known for blocking visible light from stars and galaxies behind
   it. In [7]this 11.4-hour exposure, however, [8]the dust is seen mostly
   in light of its own, with its strong red and near-[9]infrared colors
   creating a brown hue. Contrastingly blue, a bright star [10]Beta
   Chamaeleontis is visible on the upper right of the V, with the dust
   that surrounds it preferentially reflecting blue light from its
   primarily blue-white color. All of the pictured stars and dust occur in
   our own [11]Milky Way Galaxy with one [12]notable exception: a white
   spot just [13]below Beta Chamaeleontis is the galaxy [14]IC 3104, which
   lies far in the distance. [15]Interstellar dust is mostly created in
   the cool atmospheres of [16]giant stars and dispersed into space by
   stellar light, [17]stellar winds, and [18]stellar explosions such as
   [19]supernovas.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([34]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [35]Specific rights apply.
            [36]NASA Web Privacy, [37]Accessibility, [38]Notices;
                A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC,
                         [42]NASA Science Activation
                           & [43]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2511/Chamaeleon_Houbo_3691.jpg
   3. https://app.astrobin.com/u/Flying_Dutchman
   4. mailto: 18395194506 at 163 dot com
   5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaeleon
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180628.html
   7. https://app.astrobin.com/u/Flying_Dutchman?i=4g66o7
   8. https://www.flickr.com/photos/hiroc/47807534932
   9. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/07_infraredwaves
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Chamaeleontis
  11. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-milky-way-galaxy/
  12. https://static.onecms.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/09/28/startled-cat-5.jpg
  13. http://www.werbeagentur.org/oldwexi/gallery.html
  14. https://theskylive.com/sky/deepsky/ic3104-object
  15. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/d/Dust+Grain
  16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_giant
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000318.html
  18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stellar_explosion_types
  19. https://www.science.org/content/article/interstellar-dust-may-come-supernovae-after-all
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251118.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  26. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  29. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=251119
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251120.html
  31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  42. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  43. http://www.mtu.edu/