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Structures in a field with neighboring Mühlenbach stream near Dülmen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

Roland Seifert on Unsplash

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

This telescopic close-up shows off the central regions of otherwise faint emission nebula IC 410, captured under backyard skies. Presented in a Hubble color palette, the image combines visible broadband and narrowband data with data from the near-infrared. Below and right of center are two remarkable inhabitants of the interstellar pond of gas and dust. the Tadpoles of IC 410. Partly obscured by foreground dust, the nebula itself surrounds NGC 1893, a young galactic cluster of stars. Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago, the intensely hot, bright cluster stars energize the glowing gas. But the cosmic tadpoles themselves are composed of denser cooler gas and dust. Around 10 light-years long they are likely sites of ongoing star formation. Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation their heads are outlined by bright ridges of ionized gas while their tails trail away from the cluster's central young stars. IC 410 lies some 10,000 light-years away, toward the nebula-rich constellation Auriga.

Photo by Nico Carver

An equirectangular 360×180 degree view of the choir of the nave of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland. Today is Saint Patrick's Day.

Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

Saint Patrick (c. 385 – c. 461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick,  commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and, by extension, celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. Initially, it was a religious observance, but it evolved into a secular celebration of Irish culture and heritage, particularly due to the Irish diaspora. It is now celebrated annually on March 17, in more than 200 countries. More

Ernesto Leon on Unsplash

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

If not perfect, then this spiral galaxy is at least one of the most photogenic. An island universe containing billions of stars and situated about 40 million light-years away toward the constellation of the Dolphinfish (Dorado), NGC 1566 presents a gorgeous face-on view. Classified as a grand design spiral, NGC 1566 shows two prominent and graceful spiral arms that are traced by bright blue star clusters, red emission nebulas, and dark cosmic dust lanes. Numerous Hubble Space Telescope images of NGC 1566 have been taken to study star formation, supernovas, and the spiral's unusually active center. NGC 1566's flaring center makes the spiral one of the closest and brightest Seyfert galaxies, likely housing a central supermassive black hole wreaking havoc on surrounding stars and gas. Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after 1995)

A pair of white storks mating in Nové Veselí, Czech Republic.

Lubomír Dajč, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

Honoré de Balzac (1799 - 1850) - Prolific French novelist, playwright and critic. He is considered one of the founders of realism in European literature. His multi-volume novel sequence, La Comédie humaine, "The Human Comedy" which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally considered his most famous work.