Subj : Daily APOD Report To : All From : Ben Ritchey Date : Tue Mar 26 2019 15:34:30 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. 2019 March 26 [2] AE Aurigae and the Flaming Star Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Amir Abolfath [3] (TWAN [4] ) Explanation: Is star AE Aurigae on fire? No. Even though AE Aurigae [5] is named the flaming star, the surrounding nebula IC 405 [6] is named the Flaming Star Nebula [7] , and the region shape gives the appearance of fire [8] , there is no fire [9] . Fire [10] , typically defined as the rapid molecular acquisition of oxygen [11] , happens only when sufficient oxygen is present and is not important in such high-energy, low-oxygen environments such as stars. The material that appears as smoke [12] is mostly interstellar hydrogen [13] , but does contain smoke-like dark filaments of carbon-rich dust grains [14] . The bright star AE Aurigae [15] , visible just to the lower right of the image center, is so hot it glows blue [16] , emitting light so energetic it knocks electrons [17] away from surrounding gas. When a proton [18] recaptures an electron, light is emitted, as seen in the surrounding emission nebula [19] . Featured here [20] , the Flaming Star nebula [21] lies about 1,500 light years [22] distant, spans about 5 light years [23] , and is visible with a small telescope toward the constellation [24] of the Charioteer [25] (Auriga). Follow APOD on: Instagram [26] , Facebook [27] , Reddit [28] , or Twitter [29] Tomorrow's picture: stardusty ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- < [30] | Archive [31] | Submissions [32] | Index [33] | Search [34] | Calendar [35] | RSS [36] | Education [37] | About APOD [38] | Discuss [39] | > [40] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [41] (MTU [42] ) & Jerry Bonnell [43] (UMCP [44] ) NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [45] . NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [46] A service of: ASD [47] at NASA [48] / GSFC [49] & Michigan Tech. U. [50] ---------- Site notes: [1] archivepix.html [2] image/1903/IC405_Abolfath_3171.jpg [3] http://amir.torgheh.ir/about.php [4] http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/index.asp [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AE_Aurigae [6] ap031124.html [7] http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/F/Flaming_Star_Nebula.html [8] ap180826.html [9] https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/News-and-media/Press-Room/ Reporters-Guide-to-Fire-and-NFPA/Key-Fire-Safety-Tips [10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire [11] http://periodic.lanl.gov/8.shtml [12] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UlsArvbTeo [13] ap010113.html [14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_dust [15] http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im0686.html [16] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igDZ8CMWq1k [17] http://www.aip.org/history/electron/ [18] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton [19] emission_nebulae.html [20] http://amir.torgheh.ir/picture.php?/1155/category/14 [21] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004ApJ...616..257F [22] http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html [23] https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/Numbers/Math/Mathematical_Thinking/ how_long_is_a_light_year.htm [24] http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/constellations.html [25] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auriga_(constellation) [26] https://www.instagram.com/astronomypicturesdaily/ [27] https://www.facebook.com/AstronomyPictureOfTheDay [28] https://www.reddit.com/r/apod [29] http://twitter.com/apod/ [30] ap190325.html [31] archivepix.html [32] lib/apsubmit2015.html [33] lib/aptree.html [34] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search [35] calendar/allyears.html [36] /apod.rss [37] lib/edlinks.html [38] lib/about_apod.html [39] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190326 [40] ap190327.html [41] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html [42] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ [43] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html [44] http://www.astro.umd.edu/ [45] lib/about_apod.html#srapply [46] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html [47] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ [48] https://www.nasa.gov/ [49] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ [50] http://www.mtu.edu/ --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A43 (Windows/32) * Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68) .