Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Elements of the Swan Nebula

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for August 11, 2003 is “Elements of the Swan Nebula,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman). The original explanation runs about 120 words.

Elements of the Swan Nebula
Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“In the depths of the dark clouds of dust and molecular gas known as M17 , stars continue to form. Also known as the Omega Nebula and Horseshoe Nebula, the darkness of M17’s molecular clouds results from background starlight being absorbed by thick filaments of carbon-based smoke-sized dust .”

— APOD editors, August 11, 2003

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
August 11, 2003
Type
Image
Credit
Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman
Copyright
Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 120 words

All of August 2003 → · 2003 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Nebulae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: August 11 in other years

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Source

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.