Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2025 December 25
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                     Unicorn, Fox Fur and Christmas Tree
               Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Michael Kalika

   Explanation: A star forming region [5]cataloged as NGC 2264, this
   beautiful but complex arrangement of interstellar gas and dust is about
   2,700 light-years distant in the faint but fanciful constellation
   [6]Monoceros, the Unicorn. Seen toward the celestial equator and near
   the plane of our Milky Way galaxy, the seasonal skyscape mixes reddish
   [7]emission nebulae excited by energetic light from newborn stars
   [8]with dark interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring
   dust clouds lie close to the hot, young stars, they also reflect
   starlight, forming blue [9]reflection nebulae. In fact, bright variable
   star S Monocerotis is immersed in a blue-tinted haze near center.
   Arrayed with a simple triangular outline above [10]S Monocerotis, the
   stars [11]of NGC 2264 are popularly known as the [12]Christmas Tree
   star cluster. Carved by energetic starlight, the [13]Cone Nebula sits
   upside down at the apex of this cosmic Christmas tree while the dusty,
   convoluted pelt of glowing gas and dust under the tree is called the
   [14]Fox Fur Nebula. This [15]rich telescopic frame spans about 1.5
   degrees or 3 full moons on the sky top to bottom, covering nearly 80
   light-years at the distance of NGC 2264.

                    Tomorrow's picture: extrasolar flyby
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    Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([30]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [31]Specific rights apply.
            [32]NASA Web Privacy, [33]Accessibility, [34]Notices;
                A service of: [35]ASD at [36]NASA / [37]GSFC,
                         [38]NASA Science Activation
                           & [39]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2512/IMG_7311.jpeg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.instagram.com/mkalika/
   5. http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n2264.html
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoceros
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap051223.html
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190202.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181231.html
  10. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/15mon.html
  11. https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/hang-a-shining-star-upon-the-highest-bough/
  12. https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/telescopes-illuminate-christmas-tree-cluster/
  13. https://science.nasa.gov/asset/hubble/cone-nebula-ngc-2264-star-forming-pillar-of-gas-and-dust/
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151230.html
  15. https://www.instagram.com/mkalika/p/DSGUY8ajIMg/
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251224.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  22. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  25. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=251225
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251226.html
  27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  35. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  38. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  39. http://www.mtu.edu/