Posted on Dec 1, 2020

APOD: 2020 December 1 - NGC 346: Star Forming Cluster in the SMC

Maj William W. 'Bill' Price

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Good morning, Rallypoint. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is titled "NGC 346: Star Forming Cluster in the SMC." The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a feature in the night skies above our Southern Hemisphere. Using this imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), astronomers found a population of embryonic stars strung along the dark, intersecting dust lanes visible here on the right. These stars are likely to have formed 3 to 5 million years ago, together with the other stars in the NGC 346 cluster. These infant stars (3-5 million years old) are particularly interesting as they have not yet contracted to the point where their interiors are hot enough to convert hydrogen to helium. The dark, intricately beaded edge of the dust lane contains several small globules that point back towards the central cluster, like windsocks caught in a gale. Zoom in on the dust lane to see these features more clearly.

APOD: 2020 December 1 - NGC 346: Star Forming Cluster in the SMC

Posted from apod.nasa.gov

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LTC Stephen F.

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Perry Frank - Pleiades Star Cluster

PERRY FRANK | Pleiades Star Cluster#ambient #postrock #perryfrankDOWNLOAD: https://perryfrank.bandcamp.com/track/pleiades-star-clusterLISTEN ON SPOTIFY: http...

Thank you my friend Maj William W. 'Bill' Price for posting the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for Tuesday, December 1, 2020 entitled "NGC 346: Star Forming Cluster in the SMC."

Image: NGC 346 - Star Forming Cluster in the SMC - Image Credit & License - NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing - Judy Schmidt
An excellent picture of a section of God's creation the heavens.

APOD Background
"Explanation: Are stars still forming in the Milky Way's satellite galaxies? Found among the Small Magellanic Cloud's (SMC's) clusters and nebulas, NGC 346 is a star forming region about 200 light-years across, pictured here in the center of a Hubble Space Telescope image. A satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a wonder of the southern sky, a mere 210,000 light-years distant in the constellation of the Toucan (Tucana). Exploring NGC 346, astronomers have identified a population of embryonic stars strung along the dark, intersecting dust lanes visible here on the right. Still collapsing within their natal clouds, the stellar infants' light is reddened by the intervening dust. Toward the top of the frame is another star cluster with intrinsically older and redder stars. A small, irregular galaxy, the SMC itself represents a type of galaxy more common in the early Universe. These small galaxies, though, are thought to be building blocks for the larger galaxies present today."

Perry Frank - Pleiades Star Cluster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8jd8ycmKho
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LTC Stephen F.

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