Astronomy Picture of the Day · December 14, 2001

NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 14, 2001 is “NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Credit & Copyright: Brian Lula). The original explanation runs about 177 words.

From the explanation

“Like delicate cosmic petals, these clouds of interstellar dust and gas have blossomed 1,300 light-years away in the fertile star fields of the constellation Cepheus . Sometimes called the Iris Nebula and dutifully cataloged as NGC 7023, this is not the only nebula in the sky to evoke the imagery of flowers .”

— APOD editors, December 14, 2001

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: December 14, 2001
Type: Image
Credit: Credit & Copyright: Brian Lula
Copyright: Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 177 words

All of December 2001 → · 2001 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Nebulae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 14 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, December 14, 2001 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2001-december-14-ngc-7023-the-iris-nebula

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.