Explanation:
This cosmic expanse of dust, gas, and stars covers close to 3 degrees
on the sky in the heroic constellation
Perseus.
Right of center in the
gorgeous skyscape
is the dusty blue reflection nebula
NGC 1333,
about 1,000 light-years away.
At that estimated distance, the field
of view is about 50 light-years across.
Next to NGC 1333 is the reddish glow of shocked hydrogen gas created
by energetic jets and winds from stars in the process of formation.
Other reflection nebulae are scattered around,
along with remarkable
dark dust nebulae.
Near the edge of a large
molecular
cloud,
they tend to hide the newly
formed stars and young stellar objects
or protostars from prying optical telescopes.
Collapsing due to
self-gravity, the
protostars
form around dense cores embedded in the molecular cloud.
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