APOD 1.3

When looking at the sky, just 2 degrees within the constellation Cygnus, the Cocoon Nebula is visible. The interstellar dust clouds stand out from the hundreds of thousands of stars visible, all bright, colorful, almost magical. The nebula is about 4,000 light years from ours, occupying about 15 light years across, the nebular glow from the middle still shines brightly. The clouds are comprised of hundreds of different colors, powered by all the stars residing in the nebula, making it quite a sight. The only hint of the molecular clouds are the dust clouds surrounding the edges of it. The stars hidden by these dust clouds are visible with infrared cameras, which shows how many stars really are in this mysterious nebula.