Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Adam Block

This image was featured as an APOD back in 2006. Below is the copied caption: "The dark nebula SH2-136 appears to be celebrating Halloween all of the time. The complex process of star formation create dust clouds of many shapes and sizes -- it is human perception that might identify a ghoulish creature, on the right of the above image, chasing humans. Halloween's modern celebration retains historic roots in dressing to scare away the spirits of the dead. Since the fifth century BC, Halloween has been celebrated as a cross-quarter day, a day halfway between an equinox (equal day / equal night) and a solstice (minimum day / maximum night in the northern hemisphere). With our modern calendar, however, the real cross-quarter day will occur next week. Other cross-quarter markers include Groundhog Day and Walpurgis Night" (APOD, 10/31/2006).  This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.

Provider: NOIRLab

Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-sh2-136block/

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

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License