Orion Nebula as you've never seen it before...

[pokerfan]

Orion Nebula in Surrounding Dust
Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Fields

Explanation: What surrounds a hotbed of star formation? In the case of the Orion Nebula -- dust. The entire Orion field, located about 1600 light years away, is inundated with intricate and picturesque filaments of dust. Opaque to visible light, dust is created in the outer atmosphere of massive cool stars and expelled by a strong outer wind of particles. The Trapezium and other forming star clusters are embedded in the nebula. The intricate filaments of dust surrounding M42 and M43 appear gray in the above image, while central glowing gas is highlighted in brown and blue. Over the next few million years much of Orion's dust will be slowly destroyed by the very stars now being formed, or dispersed into the Galaxy.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140325.html

[JNelson6563]

1. What an incredible photo!

[secondvariety]

2. Beautiful...

[trusty elf]

3. Truly awe-inspiring!

[tclambert]

4. Badly in need of a swiffer.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Yawn.

[mindwalker_i]

6. And some Pledge

That would have to be a REALLY BIG swiffer

[Callmecrazy]

7. Imagine there were habitable planets in the nebula...

I wonder how the night sky looks on those worlds. I wonder what those "people" think of their universe. I mean, all they would see is a bunch of dust, right?
How would their religions and their legends explain their existence?


I think I just came up with an idea for a science fiction novel.

[packman]

8. They would call Him DUSTY

and worship at the shrine of dusty thoughts, paying homage to the Father Dusty, his revered son Dustbin and the Holy spirit Dustmite. From dust we come to dust we go.
I think I'll stop now-

[Callmecrazy]

9. Woah, brother...

Ease off on the purple kush. Definitely in another zone there.

[pokerfan]

10. and he'd wear a duster.

Probably drive one too.

[packman]

11. Hey, I had a Duster way back when

Damn fine car-till the engine caught fire.