APOD: 2026 January 16 - NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula

Good Red Friday morning, Rallypoint, and welcome to the January 16, 2026 edition of Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD).

We focus today on a harbinger of Spring: the Iris Nebula (NGC 7023), located some 1,300 light years away in the constellation Cepheus. Using the Spitzer (infrared) Space Telescope, researchers have detected the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) here. Why is this interesting?

An aliphatic (e.g. open chain, or single atomic bonds between carbon atoms) hydrocarbon is something akin to fuel. A PAH hydrocarbon, however, has multiple bonds between its carbon atoms, and appears cyclic in its atomic structure. PAHs are thought to be the possible starting point for abiotic syntheses of materials required by the earliest forms of life.

And observations from Spitzer suggest this hypothesis is correct by sensing many predecessors of PAHs -- molecules with relatively fragile aliphatic bonds -- in a cool and tranquil region of space. These molecules do not survive for very long in the hot, chaotic cosmic environments where PAHs are usually found. Like they are in the environment of the Iris Nebula.

We may all be made of stardust.