The North America Nebula

The North America Nebula

Image Credit & Copyright:
Dimitris Valianos

Explanation:
The North America nebula
on the sky can do what the
North America continent
on Earth cannot — form stars.

Specifically, in analogy to the Earth-confined continent,
the bright part that appears as the
east coast
is actually a hot bed of gas, dust, and newly formed stars known as the
Cygnus Wall.

The featured image
shows the star forming wall lit and eroded by
bright young stars and
partly hidden by the dark
dust they have created.

The part of the North America nebula
(NGC 7000) shown spans about 50
light years
and lies about 1,500 light years away toward the
constellation
of the Swan
(Cygnus).