A new image from NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) on September 10, 2026, features LDN 1295, also known as the Giraffe Nebula, located in the constellation Cassiopeia.
The image depicts a dark nebula, which is an interstellar cloud of dust and gas that obscures the light from stars behind it. LDN 1295 was included in the 1962 Lynds Catalogue of Dark Nebulas, compiled by American astronomer Beverly Lynds, a pioneer in astronomy and astrophysics. Astrophotographers often find these nebulas challenging to capture due to their faintness.
The nebula’s shape is reminiscent of a giraffe, though some observers also see a squirrel. This phenomenon is attributed to pareidolia, the human tendency to perceive familiar patterns in random stimuli. Pareidolia may have evolutionary benefits, such as helping animals identify and avoid predators.
The APOD site is moving from apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod. The image was credited to Alessandro Merga.
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