# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C4tbQNBJEzA
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/12287815-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/3a0de409e1.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-03-19T20:47:30.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

Bloom into a new season 🌹⁣
 ⁣
Stop and smell the roses as we welcome the #FirstDayOfSpring with the Rosette nebula in the constellation Monoceros, or the Unicorn captured by our NASA Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WISE).⁣
 ⁣
Unicorns and roses are usually the stuff of fairy tales, but in this cosmic image it tells a different story: the Rosette nebula is a huge star-forming cloud of dust and gas in our milky way galaxy estimated to be from 4,500 to 5,000 light-years away.⁣
 ⁣
At the center of the flower is a cluster of young stars, which produce huge amounts of ultraviolet radiation and blow strong winds that erode away nearby gas and dust creating a large, central hole.⁣
 ⁣
While the Rosette nebula is too faint to see with the naked eye, it’s bright center is beloved by amateur astronomers because it is visible through a small telescope or a good pair of binoculars.⁣
 ⁣
Image Descriptions: The nebula glows in clouds of dust in green around a bright red center. Stars surround frame the scene in shades of bright blue and orange.⁣
 ⁣
 ⁣
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA⁣
 ⁣
#NASA #Space #Rose #Cosmos #Spring #SpringEquinox # #Telescopes #Photography #Unicorn

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 935,554
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 1,746

## Tags

cosmos, unicorn, nasa, space, spring, photography, springequinox, firstdayofspring, rose, telescopes

---
Copyright (c) Gondola