Near The Southern Crown...

Cosmic dust clouds and young, energetic stars inhabit this beauty- less than 500 light-years away toward the northern boundary of Corona Australis, the Southern Crown. 

The dust clouds block light from more distant background stars in the Milky Way however the nebulae NGC 6726, 6727, and IC 4812 give off a blue color as light from the region's young hot stars is reflected by the cosmic dust.

M42

The Great Nebula in Orion, an immense starbirth region, is probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulas. Wow!

Here, glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1500 light-years away. In the above deep image composite in assigned colors taken by the Hubble Space Telescope wisps and sheets of dust and gas are particularly evident.

The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the unaided eye near the easily identifiable belt of three stars (Mintaka, Alnilam, Alnitak) in the popular constellation Orion.
In addition to housing a bright open cluster of stars known as the Trapezium, the Orion Nebula contains many stellar nurseries.

These nurseries contain much hydrogen gas, hot young stars and stellar jets spewing material at high speeds. Also known as M42, the Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.

45 Million Light Years Away...

45 million Light Years from us!! That is an astronomical number considering that ONE light year is 5.878 trillion miles. You do the math!
Spiral galaxy NGC 1097 shines in southern skies, in the constellation Fornax.

Trapezium In Orion

The Great Nebula in Orion, an immense, nearby starbirth region, is probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulas.

Here, glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1500 LY's away.

The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the unaided eye near the easily identifiable belt of three stars in the popular constellation Orion: Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.

In addition to housing a bright open cluster of stars known as the Trapezium, the Orion Nebula contains many stellar nurseries. These nurseries contain much hydrogen gas, hot young stars, proplyds, and stellar jets spewing material at high speeds. Also known as M42, the Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.

Soap Bubble Nebula

Anyone need to wash?
Adrift in the rich star fields of the constellation Cygnus, this lovely, symmetric nebula was only recognized a few years ago and does not yet appear in some astronomical catalogs. I

In fact, amateur astronomer Dave Jurasevich identified it as a nebula on 2008 July 6 in his images of the complex Cygnus region that included the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888). 

He subsequently notified the International Astronomical Union. Only eleven days later the same object was independently identified by Mel Helm at Sierra Remote Observatories, imaged by Keith Quattrocchi and Helm, and also submitted to the IAU as a potentially unknown nebula. The nebula, appearing on the left of the featured image, is now known as the Soap Bubble Nebula. 

Unicorn Constellation

Constellation of Unicorn!! This is just breathtaking. This is the Fox Fur Nebula, NGC 2264. approx 2700 LY's from us. This almost looks computer simulated it looks that unreal. What beauty we are blessed with. heart emoticon

Orion Molecular Cloud Complex

The constellation of Orion holds much more than three stars in a row. 

A deep exposure shows everything from dark nebula to star clusters, all embedded in an extended patch of gaseous wisps in the greater Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. 

The brightest three stars on the far left are indeed the famous three stars that make up the belt of Orion. Just below Alnitak, the lowest of the three belt stars, is the Flame Nebula, glowing with excited hydrogen gas and immersed in filaments of dark brown dust.

Below the frame center and just to the right of Alnitak lies the Horsehead Nebula, a dark indentation of dense dust that has perhaps the most recognized nebular shapes on the sky.

On the upper right lies M42, the Orion Nebula, an energetic caldron of tumultuous gas, visible to the unaided eye, that is giving birth to a new open cluster of stars.

Immediately to the left of M42 is a prominent bluish reflection nebula sometimes called the Running Man that houses many bright blue stars. The above image, a digitally stitched composite taken over several nights, covers an area with objects that are roughly 1,500 light years away and spans about 75 light years. WOW! heart emoticon