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Lots of things in space
shine, but some of the most interesting objects are visible only by the shadows
they cast.
Amateur observer Jeff Hapeman
and his astronomy instructor-for-a-night Adam Block generated this photograph
recently as part of an amateur observing program at the Kitt Peak National Observatory
in Arizona. Participants spend a night at the telescope learning about astronomy
and astrophotography [About
the program].
The photo shows clouds of
dust and gas named VDB 142 inside a large cluster of stars called IC 396. It's
all about 3,000 light-years away.
VDB 142 includes dark nebulae,
cosmic clouds that do not emit light and can only be seen because they partly
obscure background stars or bright nebulae. Perhaps the most well known example
of a dark nebula is the Horsehead
Nebula.
-- Robert
Roy Britt
Credit: Jeff
Hapeman/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF
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