Explanation:
Cosmic pillars of cold
molecular gas and clouds of dark dust
lie within Sharpless 171, a star-forming region
some 3,000 light-years away in the royal constellation
Cepheus.
This tantalizing false-color skyscape
spans about 20 light-years across
the nebula's bright central region.
It also highlights the pervasive glow of
emission
from atomic gas using narrowband filters and a
color palette made
popular in Hubble Space Telescope images.
Powering the nebular
glow are the young, hot stars of
a newly formed cluster, Berkeley 59.
Of course, this star-forming region is
entry
number 171 in
the famous 1959 catalog of emission nebulae compiled by astronomer
Stewart Sharpless.
digg_url = 'http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081018.html'; digg_skin = 'compact';
