Skip to main content

NGC 2626 along the Vela Molecular Ridge

Posted by Specola Profile 02/04/23 at 12:16PM Science - Tech - Astronomy See more by Specola

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Centered in this colorful cosmic canvas, NGC 2626 is a beautiful, bright, blue reflection nebula in the southern Milky Way. Next to an obscuring dust cloud and surrounded by reddish hydrogen emission from large H II region RCW 27 it lies within a complex of dusty molecular clouds known as the Vela Molecular Ridge. NGC 2626 is itself a cloud of interstellar dust reflecting blue light from the young hot embedded star visible within the nebula. But astronomical explorations reveal many other young stars and associated nebulae in the star-forming region. NGC 2626 is about 3,200 light-years away. At that distance this telescopic field of view would span about 30 light-years along the Vela Molecular Ridge.

Photo by Mike Selby

Click the Image to learn more about us

Snohomish, Skagit and Island County

Read more from Pepe's Painting LLC

Giving Kids in Need the Chance to Read
  Non-profit organization - Seattle, WA

Hunger impacts all of us | 360-435-1631

Powered by Volunteers | 360-794-7959