Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation: Thisinterstellar skyscapespans over 4 degrees across crowded starfieldstoward the constellation Sagittarius and the central Milky Way.A First Look image captured at the newNSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory,the bright nebulae and star clusters featuredinclude famous stops ontelescopic toursof the cosmos:Messier 8 andMessier 20.An expansive star-forming region over a hundred light-years across,Messier 8 is also known as the Lagoon Nebula.About 4,000 light-years away the Lagoon Nebulaharbors a remarkable cluster of young, massive stars.Their intense radiation and stellar winds energizeand agitate this cosmic lagoon'sturbulent depths.Messier 20's popular moniker is the Trifid.Divided into three parts by dark interstellar dust lanes, theTrifid Nebula'sglowing hydrogen gas creates its dominant red color.But contrasting blue hues in the colorfulTrifid are due to dust reflected starlight.The Rubin Observatoryvisited the Trifid-Lagoon fieldto acquire all the image data during parts of four nights (May 1-4).At full resolution, Rubin's magnificentSagittarius skyscapeis 84,000 pixels wide and 51,500 pixels tall.