Astronomy Picture of the Day 2008 May 28

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/carina07_hst.jpg (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/carina07_hst_big.jpg) Dark Clouds of the Carina Nebula
Credit: NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/), ESA (http://www.esa.int/), N. Smith (http://heritage.stsci.edu/2007/16/bio/bio_primary.html) (U. California, Berkeley (http://astro.berkeley.edu/)) et al. (http://heritage.stsci.edu/2007/16/bio/bio_primary.html), and The Hubble Heritage Team (http://heritage.stsci.edu/commonpages/infoindex/ourproject/moreproject.html) (STScI (http://www.stsci.edu/institute/)/AURA (http://www.aura-astronomy.org/))
Explanation: What dark forms lurk in the mists of the Carina Nebula?These ominous figures are actually molecular clouds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_clouds), knots of molecular gas and dust (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html) so thick they have become opaque (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080323.html). In comparison, however, these clouds are typically much less dense than Earth's atmosphere (http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Atmosphere/layers.html). Pictured above (http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/16/image/a/) is part of the most detailed image of the Carina Nebula (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060316.html) ever taken, a part where dark molecular clouds (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050110.html) are particularly prominent. The entire Carina Nebula (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carina_Nebula) spans over 300 light years (http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html) and lies about 7,500 light-years away in the constellation (http://www.astronomical.org/portal/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=17) of Carina.NGC 3372, known as the Great Nebula in Carina (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990719.html), is home to massive stars and changing nebula. Eta Carinae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_Carinae), the most energetic star in the nebula, was one of the brightest stars in the sky in the 1830s, but then faded dramatically (http://www.aavso.org/vstar/vsots/0400.shtml). Wide-field annotated (http://heritage.stsci.edu/2007/16/supplemental.html) and zoomable (http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/16/image/a/format/zoom/) versions of the larger image composite are also available.

Source (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080528.html)

Coolness. Could use some more color but then this is probably a more accurate pic than the ones that are juiced up with a lot of saturation for public view.

But hey - it looks like a Rorschach inkblot test as well. I took one of those once. Tattas come in many shapes is what the test concluded.