Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Reflection nebulae reflect light from a nearby star. Many small carbon grains in the nebula reflect the light. The blue color typical of reflection nebula is caused by blue light being more efficiently scattered by the carbon dust than red light. The Pleiades nebulosity is caused by a chance encounter between an open cluster of stars and a molecular cloud .
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