Stars and Planets over Portugal

The mission was to document night-flying birds, but it ended up documenting a beautiful sky. The mosaic was taken over the golden fields in Portugal in 2020. The central band of the Milky Way galaxy glowed over the night sky from such a dark location. The sky had more. The clouds were like golden ribbons. On the far left, there was the planet Mars, while on the far right, there were the planets Jupiter and Saturn. The bright star Vega can be found near the top of the image, while the distant and faint AndromedaGalaxy can be seen to the left. There are several planets in the pre-dawn sky as the current month progresses.

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Explanation: The eggs from this gigantic chicken may form into stars. The featured emission nebula, shown in scientifically assigned colors, is cataloged as IC 2944 but known as the Running Chicken Nebula for the shape of its greater appearance. Seen toward the bottom of the image are small, dark molecular clouds rich in obscuring cosmic dust. Called Thackeray's Globules for their discoverer, these "eggs" are potential sites for the gravitational condensation of new stars, although their fates are uncertain as they are also being rapidly eroded away by the intense radiation from nearby young stars. Together with patchy glowing gas and complex regions of reflecting dust, these massive and energetic stars form the open cluster Collinder 249. This gorgeous skyscape spans about 60 light-years at the nebula's estimated 6,500 light-year distance.