{"copyright":"Team Ciel Austral\n Text: \nCecilia Chirenti \n(NASA\nGSFC, \nUMCP , \nCRESST II)","date":"2026-07-16","explanation":"This sparkling, colorful gems tone is a spiral galaxy, NGC 300. It is one of the closest spiral galaxies to Earth, only about 6 million light-years away. But does it really look like t his? Here is a more standard portrait of it. This unusual image combines the light from the stars and dust within the galaxy with the light from ionized clo uds of interstellar gas shown in red (Sulphur), green (Hydrogen) and blue (Oxyge n). Combining red and green light in different proportions makes yellow or ora nge light, most visible in the image. Light from other ionized gases is also a t work in neon signs, fluorescent tubes and street lights. These massive cloud s of ionized gas are typically created by young, massive stars that produce high -energy ultraviolet radiation capable of ionizing the gas. Massive stars are s hort-lived, compared with lighter stars like our sun, and explode as supernovas at the end of their lives. Some of the colorful clouds in the image could be h iding supernova remnants.","hdurl":"https:\/\/apod.nasa.gov\/apod\/image\/2607\/ ngc300.jpg","media_type":"image","service_version":"v1","title":"NGC 300: A Cosm ic Gemstone with Stars and Gas Clouds","url":"https:\/\/apod.nasa.gov\/apod\/ima ge\/2607\/ngc300_1024.jpg"}
