Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/SMARTS ConsortiumImage processing: T. A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab)

This image is so beautiful that it could almost be a painting, but it is real. It has been produced using observations made at the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), which is a Program of NSF NOIRLab. It features a reflection nebula known as NGC 2626, which lies 3300 light-years from Earth.  Reflection nebulae are not luminous themselves, but they reflect light from a nearby star or stars. The light scatters off the dust particles in the nebulae, which often results in reflection nebulae having a blue tint, because blue light scatters more efficiently. This is the same phenomenon that makes the sky on Earth appear blue — the laws of physics are the same throughout our Universe! The red nebulosities are glowing hydrogen gas.

Provider: NOIRLab

Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2115a/

Curator: NSF's NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License