Explanation:
This telescopic close-up
shows off the otherwise faint
emission nebula
IC 410 in striking false-colors.
It also features two remarkable inhabitants of the cosmic pond
of gas and dust above and left of center, the
tadpoles
of IC 410.
The picture is a composite
of images taken through both broad and
narrow band filters.
The narrow band data
traces atoms in the nebula,
with emission from sulfur atoms in red, hydrogen atoms
in green, and oxygen in blue.
Partly obscured by foreground dust,
the nebula itself
surrounds NGC 1893, a young
galactic cluster of stars that energizes the glowing gas.
Composed of denser cooler gas and dust
the tadpoles are around 10 light-years long,
potentially sites of ongoing star formation.
Sculpted by
wind and radiation from the cluster stars,
their tails trail away from the cluster's central region.
IC 410 lies some 12,000 light-years away,
toward the constellation Auriga.
