Bloom into a new season :

Stop and smell the roses as we welcome the #FirstDayOfSpring with the Rosette nebula in the constellation Monoceros, or the Unicorn captured by our NASA Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WISE).⁣

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Unicorns and roses are usually the stuff of fairy tales, but in this cosmic image it tells a different story: the Rosette nebula is a huge star-forming cloud of dust and gas in our milky way galaxy estimated to be from 4,500 to 5,000 light-years away.⁣

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At the center of the flower is a cluster of young stars, which produce huge amounts of ultraviolet radiation and blow strong winds that erode away nearby gas and dust creating a large, central hole.⁣

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While the Rosette nebula is too faint to see with the naked eye, it’s bright center is beloved by amateur astronomers because it is visible through a small telescope or a good pair of binoculars.⁣

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Image Descriptions: The nebula glows in clouds of dust in green around a bright red center. Stars surround frame the scene in shades of bright blue and orange.⁣

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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA⁣

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#NASA #Space #Rose #Cosmos #Spring #SpringEquinox # #Telescopes #Photography #Unicorn