Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Herschel's Cygnus X

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 17, 2012 is “Herschel's Cygnus X,” an image. It is credited to Credit: ESA/PACS/SPIRE/ Martin Hennemann & Frédérique Motte, Laboratoire AIM Paris-Saclay, CEA/Irfu – CNRS/INSU – Univ. Paris Diderot, France. The original explanation runs about 136 words.

Herschel's Cygnus X
Credit: ESA/PACS/SPIRE/ Martin Hennemann & Frédérique Motte, Laboratoire AIM Paris-Saclay, CEA/Irfu – CNRS/INSU – Univ. Paris Diderot, France Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“The Herschel Space Observatory’s infrared view of Cygnus X spans some 6×2 degrees across one of the closest, massive star forming regions in the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. In fact, the rich stellar nursery already holds the massive star cluster known as the Cygnus OB2 association .”

— APOD editors, May 17, 2012

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
May 17, 2012
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: ESA/PACS/SPIRE/ Martin Hennemann & Frédérique Motte, Laboratoire AIM Paris-Saclay, CEA/Irfu – CNRS/INSU – Univ. Paris Diderot, France
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 136 words

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Topics in this entry

The Milky WayGalaxiesStar clusters

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: May 17 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.