¿

                        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.

                                 2020 May 11
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                              Behind Betelgeuse
      Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Adam Block, [4]Steward Observatory,
                            University of Arizona

   Explanation: What's behind Betelgeuse? One of the brighter and more
   unusual stars in the sky, the [5]red supergiant star Betelgeuse can be
   found in the direction of famous constellation Orion. [6]Betelgeuse,
   however, is actually [7]well in front of many of the constellation's
   other bright stars, and also in front of the greater [8]Orion Molecular
   Cloud Complex. Numerically, light takes about 700 years to reach us
   from Betelgeuse, but about 1,300 [9]years to reach us from the
   [10]Orion Nebula and its surrounding dust and gas. All but the largest
   telescopes [11]see Betelgeuse as only a point of light, but a point so
   bright that the [12]inherent blurriness created by the telescope and
   [13]Earth's atmosphere make it seem extended. In the [14]featured
   long-exposure image, thousands of stars in our Milky Way Galaxy can be
   seen in the background behind Betelgeuse, as well as dark dust from the
   [15]Orion Molecular Cloud, and some red-glowing emission from hydrogen
   gas on the outskirts of the more distant [16]Lambda Orionis Ring.
   [17]Betelgeuse has recovered from [18]appearing unusually dim over the
   past six months, but is still expected to explode in a [19]spectacular
   supernova sometime in the next (about) 100,000 years.

                   Tomorrow's picture: little harp meteors
     __________________________________________________________________

      [20]< | [21]Archive | [22]Submissions | [23]Index | [24]Search |
   [25]Calendar | [26]RSS | [27]Education | [28]About APOD | [29]Discuss |
                                    [30]>
     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([34]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [35]Specific rights apply.
              [36]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC
                           & [40]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2005/betelgeuse_block_2662.jpg
   3. https://www.adamblockphotos.com/
   4. http://www.as.arizona.edu/
   5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_supergiant_star
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse
   7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD-5ZOipE48
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Molecular_Cloud_Complex
   9. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191030.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200101.html
  12. https://telescopeschool.com/telescope-magnification-guide-where-does-it-get-blurry/
  13. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/science/atmosphere-layers2.html
  14. https://www.adamblockphotos.com/betelgeuse.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200329.html
  16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh2-264
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200217.html
  18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse#/media/File:Betelgeuse_AAVSO_2019.jpg
  19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJPVuSNFxlY
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200510.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  29. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200511
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200512.html
  31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  37. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  40. http://www.mtu.edu/