The Spider and the Fly
Will the spider ever catch the fly? Not if both are large emission nebulas toward the constellation of the Charioteer ( Auriga ). The spider -shaped gas cloud in the image center is actually an emission nebula labelled IC 417 , while the smaller fly-shaped cloud on the left is dubbed NGC 1931 and is both an emission nebula and a reflection nebula. About 10,000 light-years distant, both nebulas harbor young star clusters. For scale, the more compact NGC 1931 (Fly) is about 10 light-years across. The featured deep image , captured over 20 hours during late January in Berkshire UK , also shows more diffuse and red-glowing interstellar gas and dust. Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator