Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Cygnus-X: The Inner Workings of a Nearby Star Factory

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for January 18, 2012 is “Cygnus-X: The Inner Workings of a Nearby Star Factory,” an image. It is credited to Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Harvard-Smithsonian CfA. The original explanation runs about 183 words.

Cygnus-X: The Inner Workings of a Nearby Star Factory
Credit: Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Harvard-Smithsonian CfA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“How do stars form? To help study this complex issue, astronomers took a deep infrared image of Cygnus X , the largest known star forming region in the entire Milky Way Galaxy .”

— APOD editors, January 18, 2012

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
January 18, 2012
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 183 words

All of January 2012 → · 2012 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

The Milky WayGalaxies

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: January 18 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.