It's Santa! Or, nebula IC 2118 in the constellation Orion.NASA/STScI Digitized Sky Survey/Noel Carboni
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the universe, not a star complex was stirring, not even Cygnus X! Merry Christmas from Popular Science. We're taking off a couple days to go spend time with our families. Enjoy these festive space pics in the meantime. Miss you already.
Is that the face of jolly old St. Nick, or a million-mile-wide nebula? The gas and dust of the cosmos often align into very familiar scenes from Earth. We've gathered nine space pictures that look just like your favorite Christmas things: Rudolph, snow angels, tree ornaments, and more.
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