Friday, October 12, 2012

Pan-STARRS Sky View (Picture of the Day: 10/12/12)

Pan-STARRS looking towards Sagittarius. Source

This lovely image comes courtesy of Pan-STARRS (the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System), a device intended to search for potentially dangerous asteroids and comets. The image spans 3 degrees of the night sky, equal to almost 6 times the width of the moon. Dust illuminated by starlight is shown in red hues while the light emitted by hydrogen has been colored green. In this one shot alone you can see the Lagoon Nebula (M8), the Trifid Nebula (M20) and NGC 6559. 

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