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. 2011 April 16
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 centr