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. 2022 August 15 [2]The featured image shows the Cygnus Wall of star formation, a jagged line of bright gas and dark dust set in blue background and near very dark expanse of dark dust. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. The Cygnus Wall of Star Formation Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Johan Bogaerts Explanation: The [4]North America nebula on the sky can do what the [5]North America continent on Earth cannot -- form stars. Specifically, in analogy to the Earth-confined continent, the bright part that appears as [6]Central America and [7]Mexico is actually a hot bed of gas, dust, and newly formed stars known as the [8]Cygnus Wall. The [9]featured image shows the star forming wall [10]lit and eroded by [11]bright young stars, and [12]partly hidden by the dark [13]dust they have created. The part of the [14]North America nebula (NGC 7000) shown spans about 15 [15]light years and lies about 1,500 light years away toward the [16]constellation of the Swan ([17]Cygnus). Tomorrow's picture: meteor wind __________________________________________________________________ [18]< | [19]Archive | [20]Submissions | [21]Index | [22]Search | [23]Calendar | [24]RSS | [25]Education | [26]About APOD | [27]Discuss | [28]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [29]Robert Nemiroff ([30]MTU) & [31]Jerry Bonnell ([32]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [33]Specific rights apply. [34]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important 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/2208/CygnusWall_Bogaerts_4143.jpg 3. https://www.flickr.com/photos/145194967@N07/ 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America_Nebula 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_America 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico 8. http://panther-observatory.com/gallery/deepsky/doc/NGC7000_cass.htm 9. https://www.flickr.com/photos/145194967@N07/52227715450/in/pool-apods/ 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201206.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211124.html 12. http://blogs.nvidia.co.kr/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2017/12/닙스4.jpg 13. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/d/Dust+Grain 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090630.html 15. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/ 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation 17. http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/cyg/index.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220814.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 27. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220815 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220816.html 29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 30. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 31. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 32. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 34. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 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/