APOD: 2020 April 25 - Hubble s Cosmic Reef

Good afternoon, Rallypoint. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is titled "Hubble's Cosmic Reef." This image is from the Large Magellanic Cloud, some 160,000 light years away and part of Cynthia Croft's night sky. NGC 2014 (the larger, red-hued nebula) is a star-forming region dubbed the Cosmic Reef, while NGC 2020 (blue-hued, circular nebula to the left) is produced by the single Wolf-Rayet star in its center. As mentioned in previous APODs (March 2nd and 8th), a Wolf-Rayet star is recognized by unique spectral signature showing the presence of ionized helium, nitrogen, and/or carbon (in other words, its atmosphere of hydrogen has been depleted). Wolf-Rayet stars are significantly brighter and hotter than our Sun, and current models suggest that they end their lives violently in a supernova explosion. Genesis 1:3 anyone?