Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

NGC 6357: Stellar Wonderland

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 26, 2016 is “NGC 6357: Stellar Wonderland,” an image. It is credited to Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/L. Townsley et al; Optical: UKIRT; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech. The original explanation runs about 138 words.

NGC 6357: Stellar Wonderland
Credit: Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/L. Townsley et al; Optical: UKIRT; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“For reasons unknown, NGC 6357 is forming some of the most massive stars ever discovered. This complex wonderland of star formation consists of numerous filaments of dust and gas surrounding huge cavities of massive star clusters .”

— APOD editors, December 26, 2016

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 26, 2016
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/L. Townsley et al; Optical: UKIRT; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 138 words

All of December 2016 → · 2016 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Star clusters

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 26 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.