Few cosmic vistas spark the imagination as much as the Orion Nebula (星雲) seen on the right side of the photo. This giant nebula in the constellation Orion is bright enough to be seen faintly with the naked eye in the night sky. A nebula is a cloud made of interstellar matter and hydrogen, where stars (stellar objects) are born. The Orion Nebula is the closest region of dense stars to Earth. Its glowing gas and dust surround hot, young stars.
The Orion Nebula is designated M42 in the Messier catalog. The Messier catalog is a list of 110 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies compiled by French astronomer Charles Messier. M42 is about 40 light-years (光年; one light-year is the distance light travels in one year, about 9.46 trillion km) across. Just as the sun is in a spiral arm at the edge of our galaxy, M42 also sits on the edge of a massive interstellar molecular cloud 1,500 light-years away.
The blue-glowing region on the left of the photo is the nebula NGC 1977, 30 light-years from the Orion Nebula. The red shape inside resembling the Korean character for "dae" (大), similar to a person running, is often called the Running Man Nebula (running man nebula). The two nebulae are only a tiny fraction of the immense amount of star-forming material in our Milky Way neighborhood. Astronomers have identified numerous infant-stage solar systems within this stellar nursery.
This photo was posted on the 13th (local time) on the "Astronomy Picture of the Day" site operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Astronomy Picture of the Day stopped posting photos after the "Witch's Broom Nebula" on the 1st of last month due to a U.S. federal government shutdown (temporary suspension of operations). Fortunately, as the shutdown ended on the 12th, photos that had not been posted during that period were uploaded.
The shutdown began on Oct. 1 after a stopgap spending bill failed amid a standoff between the two parties through Sept. 30. The 43-day shutdown set a new record for the longest in history. The U.S. Senate passed the "Continuing Appropriations and Extension Act," a key measure to end the government shutdown, by a vote of 60-40 on the 10th, followed by the U.S. House passing the bill 222-209 on the 12th. Afterward, U.S. President Donald Trump gave final approval by signing the bill, and it took effect immediately.
After signing the bill, President Trump said, "Through this signature, the federal government will now resume normal operations, and the administration and Congress will continue efforts to lower people's cost of living, restore public safety, grow the economy, and make the United States a place where every American can live well again."