APOD: 2024 August 31 - IFN and the NGC 7771 Group

Good morning, Rallypoint, and welcome to the August 31st edition of Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD). The NGC 7771 Group lies about 200 million light years away in the constellation Pegasus, and was first discovered by William Herschel in 1784. In the foreground, however, we can see an image of the Integrated Flux Nebulae (IFN) that surrounds the celestial poles of the Milky Way. Our collective understanding of IFN is a more recent story.

Amateur astronomer and astrophotographer Steve Mandel owns a small observatory (Hidden Valley Observatory) in Soquel, California. While imaging the Messier 81 Group (Ursa Major) in December 2004, he noticed what appeared to be a large nebula complex around both galaxies. Analysis of his data suggested that the 'nebula' consisted of cloud of dust, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and other trace elements. And that these clouds were relatively near by.

After consulting with other optical and radio astronomers, they concluded that Steve had come across a huge dust complex that was not well known. Following in the footsteps of Charles Messier, Steve set about creating his own catalog of astronomical objects called the "Unexplored Nebula Project." If Alan Parsons decides to record a new album, I think this would be a good title. Cheers.