{"id":213465,"url":"https://www.kudos365.com/news/213465-the-dark-wolf-nebula","short_url":"https://www.kudos365.com/news/213465","headline":"The Dark Wolf Nebula","content":"\u003cp\u003eNASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA dark wolf lies in gum. No, this isn’t a riddle! Today's image features the Dark Wolf Nebula (Sandqvist–Lindroos 17), a spooky dust cloud embedded within the Gum 55 (RCW 113) Nebula in the Scorpius constellation. While dust is a pest to us, it serves a vital role in creating the necessary conditions for stars to be born. The Dark Wolf absorbs the intense ultraviolet and visible light emitted by young stars in Gum 55 and re-emits it at longer, mainly infrared, wavelengths. This prevents the higher energy light from heating up the gas in the region. When a region of gas is cool enough, gravity takes over and causes the gas to collapse into a star. Not only does dust act as an interstellar thermostat, but it is also the meet-cute for single hydrogen atoms forming molecular hydrogen, the building block for stars. The seemingly sinister Dark Wolf is actually a harbinger of cosmic life.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003ePhoto by William Vrbasso\n\nText:\nKeighley Rockcliffe  \n(NASA\nGSFC, \nUMBC CSST, \nCRESST II)\u003c/p\u003e","content_plain":"NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:\n\nA dark wolf lies in gum. No, this isn’t a riddle! Today's image features the Dark Wolf Nebula (Sandqvist–Lindroos 17), a spooky dust cloud embedded within the Gum 55 (RCW 113) Nebula in the Scorpius constellation. While dust is a pest to us, it serves a vital role in creating the necessary conditions for stars to be born. The Dark Wolf absorbs the intense ultraviolet and visible light emitted by young stars in Gum 55 and re-emits it at longer, mainly infrared, wavelengths. This prevents the higher energy light from heating up the gas in the region. When a region of gas is cool enough, gravity takes over and causes the gas to collapse into a star. Not only does dust act as an interstellar thermostat, but it is also the meet-cute for single hydrogen atoms forming molecular hydrogen, the building block for stars. The seemingly sinister Dark Wolf is actually a harbinger of cosmic life.\n\n\nPhoto by William Vrbasso\n\nText:\nKeighley Rockcliffe  \n(NASA\nGSFC, \nUMBC CSST, \nCRESST II)","published_at":"2026-05-20T14:16:00-07:00","updated_at":"2026-05-20T17:29:24-07:00","author":{"type":"Person","name":"Specola","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/profiles/298285-specola"},"description":"Stay up-to-date with Specola on Kudos 365. View their photo published May/20/2026 on Science - Tech - Astronomy. Browse your favorite topics and share your expertise, too.","type":"photo","image":"https://k365pi.imgix.net/site/apod/generated/92a46a2e-d9e2-40b9-b0a7-1c2bf86a4c45.jpg?auto=compress,format\u0026fit=max\u0026w=1200\u0026h=1200\u0026q=48","likes_count":1,"categories":[{"name":"Science - Tech - Astronomy","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/categories/986-science-tech-astronomy"}],"schema":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"CreativeWork","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/news/213465-the-dark-wolf-nebula","headline":"The Dark Wolf Nebula","image":"https://k365pi.imgix.net/site/apod/generated/92a46a2e-d9e2-40b9-b0a7-1c2bf86a4c45.jpg?auto=compress,format\u0026fit=max\u0026w=1200\u0026h=1200\u0026q=48","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Specola","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/profiles/298285-specola"},"datePublished":"2026-05-20T14:16:00-07:00","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":"https://schema.org/LikeAction","userInteractionCount":1}],"subjectOf":[{"@type":"Thing","name":"Science - Tech - Astronomy","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/categories/986-science-tech-astronomy"}]}}