The European Space Agency's Herschel Telescope grabbed the data for this gorgeous image of Cygnus-X between May and December of 2010. Cygnus-X is an active star-forming region about 4500 light years from Earth. It is located in the Cygnus constellation, whose name comes from the Greek word for "swan," right at where the imagined bird's heart would be.
Below, recent Pictures of the Day:
Image: NASA.
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Rebecca J. Rosen is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where she oversees the Family and Education sections. She was previously an associate editor at The Wilson Quarterly.