Mar 1, 2025, 06:42 AM IST
Planet Earth hangs in the background of this space age selfie.
Framed in this single, starry, telescopic field of view are two open star clusters, M35 and NGC 2158.
Less-bright, non-blue stars like our Sun surely also exist in this M41 star cluster but are harder to see.
Saturn looks slightly different in infrared light. Bands of clouds show great structure, including long stretching storms.
Seen as a seagull and a duck, these nebulae are not the only cosmic clouds to evoke images of flight.
The Rosette Nebula, NGC 2237, is not the only cosmic cloud of gas and dust to evoke the imagery of flowers, but it is probably the most famous.
Image source: NASA