The Fox behind the Sky

Written by Lily Philipov

When you look into the sky you are most likely to see clouds, a sun, maybe an occasional plane or helicopter, and the stars at night… but behind all that is a masterpiece. A dark background with splashes of blue, pink, yellow, red, and orange. A million different galaxies and nebulae are lurking in outer space.

Do you want to know one of them? The unbelievable Fox Fur Nebula. The Fox Fur Nebula is 2,700 light-years away. According to wiki fandom, a light-year is about 6 trillion miles (9 trillion kilometers). So 2,700 light years is an exceptional distance. Even though it would take us an abundant amount of time to reach the Fox Fur Nebula in person, NASA’s telescopes were still able to locate this nebula in a considerably smaller amount of time. The reason behind the nebula’s strange name is because the texture and color of the nebula resembles a fox!

The Fox Fur Nebula is located in a constellation called Monoceros (MUH-NOS-UH-RUHS). Monoceros originates from the Greek word “Unicorn''. Monoceros is not far from the arm of Orion (another constellation). The Fox Fur Nebula lies further north of the Cone Nebula. The Constellation Guide says that the two nebulae are less than a degree away and part of the same molecular cloud. 

When I first discovered this image, it’s beauty made me intrigued. Looking at flowers that you haven’t encountered before or a butterfly that just fluttered past your window can spark research. I strongly promote that because staying quarantine can be a little dull. What knowledge will you discover?