APOD: NGC 2170: Celestial Still Life (2012 Mar 06)

[APOD Robot]

NGC 2170: Celestial Still Life

Explanation: Is this a painting or a photograph? In this beautiful celestial still life composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170 shines near the image center. Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined by other bluish reflection nebulae, a red emission region, many dark absorption nebulae, and a backdrop of colorful stars. Like the common household items still life painters often choose for their subjects, the clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars pictured above are also commonly found in this setting - a massive, star-forming molecular cloud in the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The giant molecular cloud, Mon R2, is impressively close, estimated to be only 2,400 light-years or so away. At that distance, this canvas would be over 60 light-years across.

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[Boomer12k]

Looks like a Tongue sticking out in the middle.....

:---[===] *

[Glenriven]

Design us a way to get there! It's on you class of 2016.

[Ann]

This is a lovely image, wonderfully colored and chock full of fantastic details. There are actually at least three emission nebulae here, although one is very small (at top, near a blue star there) and one is very large and faint (at far left).

Amazing structure can be seen in the dust, and, as I said, the colors are lovely. On ebright yellow star at far right seems to be surrounded by a retinue of fainter blue stars, as if it was a red supergiant accompanied by unevolved hot stars. But according to the parallaxes of the stars, that is probably not the case.

Anyway, it is a stunning sky vista, made even more beautiful in this image.

Ann

[Beyond]

Most of the examples in the -still life painters- link, seemed to have dieddisappeared, well,,, that's life.

[Wally]

Design us a way to get there! It's on you class of 2016.

Invent a faster than light transport and then make a lot of sandwiches.

[orin stepanek]

Beautiful APOD! I kind of expected the Bird of Paradise to fly away!
I just had to bring the unicorn to the front; he's pretty cute!

Click to view full size image

[dddavids@iupui.edu]

If it were a painting, it wuld have taken the artist 2 lifetimes.

[Tszabeau]

This is a beautiful photograph but, I take exception that it is a stillife. It's more of a lands-scape. First, it's not a composed arrangement of inanimate objects. Secondly, it's not still. Thirdly, us painters are contrarions.

[Wolf Kotenberg]

It is a painting. I don't see any light spikes associated with the brighter stars. Pass me an ice cold one, please.

[bystander]

It's a photo.

[Chris Peterson]

It's a photo.

I think you mean foto.

[Ann]

It's a photo.

I think you mean foto.

Isn't that how you spell it???? Me Swedish!

Ann

[Beyond]

WHAT You meen it's knot spelted -foetoe- Shudda payed mor atension in inglish clas.

[Wolf Kotenberg]

in an irish pub they would say " it is a bloody painting, mate " With one exception.

[saturn2]

This is a fhotograph of a beautiful " celestial painting "
Because the Universe is an " artist "