03/01/2026
Cosmic Tadpoles swimming near the Flaming Star... or are they?
These two nebulae appear close together in our night sky, but it's a cosmic illusion.
The Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405) is 1,500 light years away.
The Tadpoles Nebula (IC 410) is 12,400 light years away.
That's over 10,000 light years between them - they just happen to align from our perspective here on Earth!
This image took 11 hours of data across a 2-panel mosaic using narrowband filters.
Full astrophoto and tech details: astrotakis.com
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