{"id":12063,"date":"2026-04-26T20:53:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T20:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/2026-april-26-mystic-mountain-monster-being-destroyed-nasa-gov\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T20:53:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T20:53:56","slug":"2026-april-26-mystic-mountain-monster-being-destroyed-nasa-gov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/2026-april-26-mystic-mountain-monster-being-destroyed-nasa-gov\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 April 26 \u2013 Mystic Mountain Monster being Destroyed – NASA (.gov)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Discover the cosmos!<\/a> Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2026 April 26
\"The<\/a>
Explanation: <\/b> Inside the head of this interstellar monster is a star that is slowly destroying it. The huge monster, actually an inanimate<\/a> series of pillars of gas and dust, measures light years<\/a> in length. The in-head star is not itself visible through the opaque<\/a> interstellar dust<\/a> but is bursting out partly by ejecting opposing beams of energetic particles called Herbig-Haro<\/a> jets. Located about 7,500 light years away in the Carina Nebula<\/a> and known informally as Mystic Mountain, the appearance of these pillars is dominated by dark dust even though they are composed mostly of clear hydrogen<\/a> gas. The featured image<\/a> was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope<\/a>. All over these pillars, the energetic light<\/a> and winds<\/a> from massive newly formed stars are evaporating and dispersing the dusty stellar nurseries in which they formed. Within a few million years, the head of this giant, as well as most of its body, will have been completely evaporated<\/a> by internal and surrounding stars.

Tomorrow’s picture: <\/b>lost comet<\/a> <\/p>\n
\n

<<\/a> | Archive<\/a> | Submissions<\/a> | Index<\/a> | Search<\/a> | Calendar<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | Education<\/a> | About APOD<\/a> | Discuss<\/a> | ><\/a> <\/p>\n

\n

Authors & editors: <\/b> Robert Nemiroff<\/a> (MTU<\/a>) & Jerry Bonnell<\/a> (UMCP<\/a>)
NASA Official: <\/b> Amber Straughn Specific rights apply<\/a>.
NASA Web Privacy<\/a>, Accessibility<\/a>, Notices<\/a>;
A service of:<\/b> ASD<\/a> at NASA<\/a> \/ GSFC<\/a>,
NASA Science Activation<\/a>
&<\/b> Michigan Tech. U.<\/a>
<\/center>