Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Orion's Cradle

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 18, 2026 is “Orion's Cradle,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Image Credit & Copyright: Piotr Czerski). The original explanation runs about 160 words.

A starfield is shown filled with red glowing gas. On the right is a blue-glowing complex nebula, while on the left there is a long encircling arc of red gas. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Piotr Czerski Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Cradled in red-glowing hydrogen gas, stars are being born in Orion. These stellar nurseries lie at the edge of the giant Orion molecular cloud complex , some 1,500 light-years away.”

— APOD editors, February 18, 2026

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
February 18, 2026
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Piotr Czerski
Copyright
Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 160 words

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Topics in this entry

OrionNebulae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: February 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.