The Universe is far vaster and has more celestial bodies than we could ever imagine. Korea Post is issuing ten commemorative stamps featuring the winners of the Celestial Bodies Photo Contest that captured mysterious and beautiful images of the Universe. An aurora is a light-display phenomenon that occurs when energy particles charged by the solar wind precipitate into the upper atmosphere of the Earth.
The Horsehead Nebula, also found in the constellation Orion, is one of the most well-known dark nebulae. Its swirling cloud of gas and dust are silhouetted against a bright star behind it, and the shape of the dark cloud bears resemblance to a horses head when viewed from the Earth. The Triangulum Galaxy is about 2.7 million light-years away from our galaxy and has some 40 billion stars orbiting around its center. It is the most distant deep sky object that canbe viewed with the naked eye. The Bodes Galaxy (Messier 81) and the Cigar Galaxy (Messier 82) are about 12 million light-years away, and are found near the constellation Ursa Major. Both galaxies continue to display a great deal of star formation. The Orion Nebula is situated in the constellation Orion, which is the most prominent constellation in the night sky during the winter. It is one of the brightest and largest nebulae, and is home to massive star formation.
The Comet Lovejoy emits a bluish light, and is known to pass the Earth every eight thousand years. It passed closest by the Sun on January 30, 2015. The Pleiades Star Cluster is 444 light-years away from the Earth, and is dominated by hot blue and extremely luminous stars. Found in the constellation Taurus, it is also called Seven Sisters, or Jomsaeng-i Byeol (tiny thing stars). In the Rosetta Nebula, a hot wind of particles and radiant energy from a bright young star at its heart, along with surrounding glowing gas and dust, create the appearance of a beautiful blossoming red rose. The Milky Way is the galaxy of our Solar System, and its name is derived from its appearance as a band of light across the night sky formed by tens of billions of stars.
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