This was
your sky.

Reflections on vdB 31

High in the constellation Auriga, the beautiful blue vdB 31 is a reflection nebula, the 31st object in Sidney van den Bergh's 1966 catalog. It shares this cosmic scene with dark, obscuring clouds from Edward E. Barnard's 1919 catalog. Both are interstellar dust clouds, but vdB 31 reflects the bluish starlight from embedded hot stars, while Barnard's clouds block background starlight.