Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

NGC 604: Giant Stellar Nursery

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 9, 2003 is “NGC 604: Giant Stellar Nursery,” an image. It is credited to Credit: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team ( AURA / STScI ). The original explanation runs about 136 words.

NGC 604: Giant Stellar Nursery
Credit: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team ( AURA / STScI ) Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Stars are sometimes born in the midst of chaos. About 3 million years ago in the nearby galaxy M33 , a large cloud of gas spawned dense internal knots which gravitationally collapsed to form stars.”

— APOD editors, December 9, 2003

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 9, 2003
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team ( AURA / STScI )
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 136 words

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

Topics in this entry

Galaxies

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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.