¿ 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 December 1 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. NGC 346: Star Forming Cluster in the SMC Image Credit & [3]License: [4]NASA, [5]ESA, [6]Hubble; Processing: [7]Judy Schmidt Explanation: Are stars still forming in the Milky Way's satellite galaxies? Found among the Small Magellanic Cloud's (SMC's) clusters and nebulas, [8]NGC 346 is a star forming region about 200 light-years across, [9]pictured here in the center of a [10]Hubble Space Telescope image. [11]A satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, the Small Magellanic Cloud ([12]SMC) is a wonder of the southern sky, a mere 210,000 light-years distant in the constellation of the [13]Toucan ([14]Tucana). Exploring [15]NGC 346, astronomers have identified a population of embryonic stars strung along the dark, intersecting dust lanes [16]visible here on the right. Still collapsing within their [17]natal clouds, the [18]stellar infants' light is reddened by the intervening dust. Toward the top of the frame is another star cluster with intrinsically older and redder stars. [19]A small, irregular galaxy, the SMC itself represents a type of galaxy more common in the [20]early Universe. These small galaxies, though, are thought to be [21]building blocks for the larger galaxies present today. All 30: [22]2020 November APODs voiced by AI Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [23]< | [24]Archive | [25]Submissions | [26]Index | [27]Search | [28]Calendar | [29]RSS | [30]Education | [31]About APOD | [32]Discuss | [33]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [34]Robert Nemiroff ([35]MTU) & [36]Jerry Bonnell ([37]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [38]Specific rights apply. [39]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [40]ASD at [41]NASA / [42]GSFC & [43]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2012/Ngc346_HubbleSchmidt_3375.jpg 3. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ 4. https://www.nasa.gov/ 5. https://www.esa.int/ 6. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html 7. https://geckzilla.com/ 8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mafzlGtnnk0 9. https://www.flickr.com/photos/geckzilla/49909108843/in/photostream/ 10. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html 11. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/sattelit.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100903.html 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toucan#/media/File:CRTO_Matthew-Gable.JPG 14. http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/tuc/ 15. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011AJ....141...31C/abstract 16. https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2005/news-2005-35.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170315.html 18. http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap041116.html 20. http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=18002 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031117.html 22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNGp4QiBrp8&list=PLN7CbH97ZxIga7NbVHEnlKIuy1_WRSnYJ 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201130.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 32. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=201201 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201202.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 36. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 37. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 39. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 40. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 43. http://www.mtu.edu/