Subj : Daily APOD Report To : All From : Ben Ritchey Date : Wed Dec 26 2018 08:13:12 Astronomy Picture of the Day Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2018 December 26 [2] NGC 6357: The Lobster Nebula Image Credit: Dean Carr [3] Explanation: Why is the Lobster Nebula forming some of the most massive stars known? No one is yet sure [4] . Cataloged as NGC 6357, the Lobster Nebula houses the open star cluster Pismis 24 [5] near its center -- a home to unusually bright and massive stars. The overall blue glow [6] near the inner star forming region results from the emission [7] of ionized [8] hydrogen [9] gas. The surrounding nebula, featured here [10] , holds a complex tapestry of gas, dark dust [11] , stars still forming, and newly born stars. The intricate patterns are caused by complex interactions between interstellar winds [12] , radiation pressures [13] , magnetic fields [14] , and gravity [15] . NGC 6357 spans about 400 light years and lies about 8,000 light years [16] away toward the constellation of the Scorpion [17] . Free Download: 2019 APOD Calendar (v5) [18] Tomorrow's picture: hole of the key ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- < [19] | Archive [20] | Submissions [21] | Index [22] | Search [23] | Calendar [24] | RSS [25] | Education [26] | About APOD [27] | Discuss [28] | > [29] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [30] (MTU [31] ) & Jerry Bonnell [32] (UMCP [33] ) NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [34] . NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [35] A service of: ASD [36] at NASA [37] / GSFC [38] & Michigan Tech. U. [39] ---------- Site notes: [1] archivepix.html [2] image/1812/Lobster_Carr_3954.jpg [3] https://www.astrobin.com/users/dean.carr/ [4] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015A%26A...573A..95M [5] ap160327.html [6] http://bf-astro.com/hubblep.htm [7] emission_nebulae.html [8] http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Chemical/ionize.html [9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen [10] https://www.astrobin.com/330823/H/ [11] ap060409.html [12] https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/blueshift/index.php/2009/11/17/ dust-in-the-interstellar-wind/ [13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_pressure [14] http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/whmfield.html [15] https://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/qa_gp_gr.html [16] http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html [17] http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/scorpius.html [18] https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1812/ApodCalendar2019v4_Dave.pdf [19] ap181225.html [20] archivepix.html [21] lib/apsubmit2015.html [22] lib/aptree.html [23] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search [24] calendar/allyears.html [25] /apod.rss [26] lib/edlinks.html [27] lib/about_apod.html [28] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=181226 [29] ap181227.html [30] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html [31] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ [32] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html [33] http://www.astro.umd.edu/ [34] lib/about_apod.html#srapply [35] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html [36] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ [37] https://www.nasa.gov/ [38] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ [39] http://www.mtu.edu/ --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A40 (Windows/32) * Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68) .