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 December 12 [2]The featured image shows an interstellar gas globule that looks like a monster superposed against a glowing red background. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. An Unusual Globule in IC 1396 Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Bernard Miller Explanation: Is there a monster in [4]IC 1396? Known to some as the [5]Elephant's Trunk Nebula, parts of gas and [6]dust clouds of this [7]star formation region may appear to take on foreboding forms, some [8]nearly human. The only real [9]monster here, however, is a [10]bright young star too far from [11]Earth to hurt us. [12]Energetic light from this star is [13]eating away the dust of the dark [14]cometary globule near the top of the [15]featured image. [16]Jets and [17]winds of particles emitted from this star are also pushing away ambient gas and [18]dust. Nearly 3,000 [19]light-years distant, the relatively faint [20]IC 1396 complex covers a much larger region on the sky than shown here, with an apparent width of more than 10 [21]full moons. Tomorrow's picture: art and sky __________________________________________________________________ [22]< | [23]Archive | [24]Submissions | [25]Index | [26]Search | [27]Calendar | [28]RSS | [29]Education | [30]About APOD | [31]Discuss | [32]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell ([36]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [37]Specific rights apply. [38]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC, [42]NASA Science Activation & [43]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2212/IC1396_Miller_2370.jpg 3. http://www.azstarman.net/About.htm 4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120805.html 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant's_Trunk_nebula 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120722.html 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cyclops_(Redon) 9. http://www.strangescience.net/stmons.htm 10. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1996ApJ...463L.105M/abstract 11. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/earth/in-depth/ 12. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves 13. https://www.aspca.org/sites/default/files/cat-care_cat-nutrition-tips_kitten_body1_right.jpg 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131012.html 15. http://www.azstarman.net/CDK/IC1396_LRGB.htm 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201222.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160522.html 18. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/d/Dust+Grain 19. http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210723.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap990419.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221211.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 31. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=221212 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221213.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 42. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 43. http://www.mtu.edu/