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                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2025 February 18
    A tall starscape appears to have two bright nebulas. The large one at
    the top is colored mostly red and is known as the Seagull Nebula. The
    small one near the bottom right is known as Thor's Helmet. Please see
               the explanation for more detailed information.

                      Thor's Helmet versus the Seagull
   Image Credit & Copyright: Nicolas Martino, Adrien Soto, Louis Leroux &
                                 Yann Sainty

   Explanation: Seen as a seagull and a duck, these nebulae are not the
   only cosmic clouds to evoke images of flight. But both are winging
   their way across this broad celestial landscape, spanning almost 7
   degrees across planet Earth's night sky toward the constellation of the
   Big Dog (Canis Major). The expansive Seagull (top center) is itself
   composed of two major cataloged emission nebulas. Brighter NGC 2327
   forms the head with the more diffuse IC 2177 as the wings and body.
   Impressively, the Seagull's wingspan would correspond to about 250
   light-years at the nebula's estimated distance of 3,800 light-years. At
   the lower right, the Duck appears much more compact and would span only
   about 50 light-years given its 15,000 light-year distance estimate.
   Blown by energetic winds from an extremely massive, hot star near its
   center, the Duck nebula is cataloged as NGC 2359. Of course, the Duck's
   thick body and winged appendages also lend it the slightly more
   dramatic popular moniker, Thor's Helmet.

                   Portal Universe: Random APOD Generator
                   Tomorrow's picture: star system forming
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