Astronomy Picture of The Day

Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating
universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional
astronomer.
2014 May 30

Planetary Nebula Abell 36
Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, Univ. Arizona
Explanation: The gorgeous, gaseous shroud of a dying sunlike star, planetary
nebula Abell 36 lies a mere 800 light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. At that
distance it spans over 1.5 light-years in this sharp telescopic view. Shrugging off its
outer layers, the nebula's central star is contracting and becoming hotter, evolving
towards a final white dwarf phase. In fact, in Abell 36, the central star is estimated to
have a surface temperature of over 73,000 K, compared to the Sun's present 6,000 K
temperature. As a result, the intensely hot star is much brighter in ultraviolet light,
compared to its visual appearance here. The invisible ultraviolet light ionizes
hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the nebula and ultimately powers the beautiful visible
light glow.

astronomer.
2014 March 11

In the Heart of the Rosette Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Don Goldman
Explanation: In the heart of the Rosette Nebula lies a bright open cluster of stars that
lights up the nebula. The stars of NGC 2244 formed from the surrounding gas only a
few million years ago. The above image taken in January using multiple exposures
and very specific colors of Sulfur (shaded red), Hydrogen (green), andOxygen (blue),
captures the central region in tremendous detail. A hot wind of particles streams away
from the cluster stars and contributes to an already complex menagerie of gas
and dust filaments while slowly evacuating the cluster center. The Rosette Nebula's
center measures about 50 light-years across, lies about 4,500 light-years away, and is
visible with binoculars towards the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros).

2014 March 5

Globules in the Running Chicken Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Fred Vanderhaven
Explanation: The eggs from this chicken may form into stars. The above
pictured emission nebula, cataloged as IC 2944, is called the Running Chicken Nebula
for the shape of its greater appearance. The image was taken recently from Siding
Spring Observatory in Australia and presented in scientifically assigned colors. Seen
near the center of the image are small, dark molecular clouds rich in obscuring cosmic
dust. Called Thackeray's Globules for their discoverer, these "eggs" are potential sites
for the gravitational condensation of new stars, although their fates are uncertain as
they are also being rapidly eroded away by the intense radiation from nearby young
stars. Together with patchy glowing gas and complex regions of reflecting dust, these
massive and energetic stars form the open cluster Collinder 249. This
gorgeous skyscape spans about 70 light-years at the nebula's estimated 6,000 light-
year distance.
Tomorrow's picture: stardust

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& Michigan Tech. U.

astronomer.

NGC 7293: The Helix Nebula
Explanation: A mere seven hundred light years from Earth, in the
constellation Aquarius, a sun-like star is dying. Its last few thousand years have
produced the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), a well studied and nearby example of
a Planetary Nebula, typical of this final phase of stellar evolution. A total of 28.5
hours of exposure time have gone in to creating this deep view of the nebula.
Combining narrow band image data from emission lines of hydrogen atoms in red and
oxygen atoms in blue-green hues, it shows remarkable details of the Helix's
brighter inner region, about 3 light-years across, but also follows fainter outer
halo features that give the nebula a span of well over six light-years. The white dot at
the Helix's center is this Planetary Nebula's hot, central star. A simple looking nebula
at first glance, the Helix is now understood to have a surprisingly complex geometry.

astronomer.
2013 December 14

The Bubble Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: J-P Metsvainio (Astro Anarchy)
Explanation: Blown by the wind from a massive star, this interstellar apparition has a
surprisingly familiar shape. Cataloged as NGC 7635, it is also known simply asThe
Bubble Nebula. Although it looks delicate, the 10 light-year diameter bubble offers
evidence of violent processes at work. Above and right of the Bubble's center is a
hot, O star, several hundred thousand times more luminous and around 45 times more
massive than the Sun. A fierce stellar wind and intense radiation from that star has
blasted out the structure of glowing gas against denser material in a
surrounding molecular cloud. The intriguing Bubble Nebula lies a mere 11,000 light-
years away toward the boastful constellation Cassiopeia. This natural looking view of
the cosmic bubble is composed from narrowband image data, also used tocreate a 3D
model.

astronomer.
2013 December 5

Planetary Nebula Abell 7
Explanation: Very faint planetary nebula Abell 7 is some 1,800 light-years distant,
just south of Orion in planet Earth's skies in the constellation Lepus, The Hare.
Surrounded by Milky Way stars and near the line-of-sight to distant background
galaxies, its generally simple spherical shape, about 8 light-years in diameter, is
outlined in this deep telescopic image. Within its confines are beautiful, more
complex details enhanced by the use of narrowband filters. Emission from hydrogen
and nitrogen is shown in reddish hues with oxygen emission mapped to a bluish-green
color, giving Abell 7 a more natural appearance that would otherwise be much too
faint to be appreciated by eye. A planetary nebula represents a very brief final phase
in stellar evolution that our own Sun will experience 5 billion years hence, as the
nebula's central, once sun-like star shrugs off its outer layers. Abell 7 itself is
estimated to be 20,000 years old. Its central star is seen here as a fading white dwarf
some 10 billion years old.

astronomer.
2013 September 15

M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula
Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA - Processing: Judy Schmidt
Explanation: Are stars better appreciated for their art after they die? Actually, stars
usually create their most artistic displays as they die. In the case of low-mass stars like
our Sun and M2-9 pictured above, the stars transform themselves from normal stars
to white dwarfs by casting off their outer gaseous envelopes. The expended gas
frequently forms an impressive display called a planetary nebula that fades gradually
over thousand of years. M2-9, a butterfly planetary nebula 2100light-years away
shown in representative colors, has wings that tell a strange but incomplete tale. In the
center, two stars orbit inside a gaseous disk 10 times the orbit of Pluto. The expelled
envelope of the dying star breaks out from the disk creating the bipolar appearance.
Much remains unknown about the physical processes that cause planetary nebulae.
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Tomorrow's picture: rotating Moon


& Michigan Tech. U.

astronomer.
2013 August 26

Bright Planetary Nebula NGC 7027 from Hubble
Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA; Processing: Delio Tolivia
Cadrecha
Explanation: It is one of the brightest planetary nebulae on the sky -- what should it
be named? First discovered in 1878, nebula NGC 7027 can be seen toward
the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus) with a standard backyard telescope. Partly
because it appears there as only an indistinct spot, it is rarely referred to with a
moniker. When imaged with the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, however,
great details are revealed. Studying Hubble images of NGC 7027 have led to
theunderstanding that it is a planetary nebula that began expanding about 600 years
ago, and that the cloud of gas and dust is unusually massive as it appears to contain
about three times the mass of our Sun. Pictured above in assigned colors, the resolved,
layered, and dust-laced features of NGC 7027 might remind sky enthusiasts of a
familiar icon that could be the basis for an informal name. Please feel free to make
suggestions -- some suggestions are being recorded, for example, in an online APOD
discussion forum.
Tomorrow's picture: universe flight


& Michigan Tech. U.

astronomer.
2013 August 17

M8: The Lagoon Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Ignacio Diaz Bobillo
Explanation: This beautiful cosmic cloud is a popular stop on telescopic tours of the
constellation Sagittarius. Eighteenth century cosmic tourist Charles Messiercataloged
the bright nebula as M8. Modern day astronomers recognize the Lagoon Nebula as an
active stellar nursery about 5,000 light-years distant, in the direction of the center of
our Milky Way Galaxy. Hot stars in the embedded open star cluster NGC 6530 power
the nebular glow. Remarkable features can be traced through this sharp picture,
showing off the Lagoon's filaments of glowing gas and dark dust clouds. Twisting
near the center of the Lagoon, the small, bright hourglass shape is the turbulent result
of extreme stellar winds and intense starlight. The alluring color view was captured
with a telescope and digital camera while M8 was high in dark, rural Argentina skies.
At the nebula's estimated distance, the picture spans over 60 light-years.

astronomer.
2013 July 30

The Eskimo Nebula from Hubble and Chandra
Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/IAA-CSIC/N. Ruiz et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI
Explanation: In 1787, astronomer William Herschel discovered the Eskimo Nebula.
From the ground, NGC 2392 resembles a person's head surrounded by aparka hood. In
2000, the Hubble Space Telescope imaged the Eskimo Nebula in visible light, while
the nebula was imaged in X-rays by the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2007.
The above combined visible-X ray image, with X-rays emitted by central hot gas and
shown in pink, was released last week. From space, thenebula displays gas clouds so
complex they are not fully understood. The Eskimo Nebula is clearly a planetary
nebula, and the gas seen above composed the outer layers of a Sun-like star only
10,000 years ago. The inner filaments visible above are being ejected by
strong wind of particles from the central star. The outer disk contains unusual light-
year long orange filaments. The Eskimo Nebula spans about 1/3 of a light year and
lies in our Milky Way Galaxy, about 3,000 light years distant, toward the constellation
of the Twins (Gemini).

astronomer.
2013 June 7

NGC 6302: The Butterfly Nebula
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team
Explanation: The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth's night sky are often
named for flowers or insects. Though its wingspan covers over 3 light-years, NGC
6302 is no exception. With an estimated surface temperature of about 250,000 degrees
C, the dying central star of this particular planetary nebula has become exceptionally
hot, shining brightly in ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus
of dust. This sharp and colorful close-up of the dying star's nebula was recorded in
2009 by the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3, installed during the
final shuttle servicing mission. Cutting across a bright cavity of ionized gas, the
dust torus surrounding the central star is near the center of this view, almost edge-on
to the line-of-sight. Molecular hydrogen has been detected in the hot star's dusty
cosmic shroud. NGC 6302 lies about 4,000 light-years away in
the arachnologically correct constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius).

astronomer.
2013 June 5

M57: The Ring Nebula
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI / AURA)- ESA /
Hubble Collaboration
Explanation: Except for the rings of Saturn, the Ring Nebula (M57) is probably the
most famous celestial band. Its classic appearance is understood to be due to our own
perspective, though. The recent mapping of the expanding nebula's 3-D structure,
based in part on this clear Hubble image, indicates that the nebula is a relatively
dense, donut-like ring wrapped around the middle of a football-shaped cloud of
glowing gas. The view from planet Earth looks down the long axis of the football,
face-on to the ring. Of course, in this well-studied example of a planetary nebula, the
glowing material does not come from planets. Instead, the gaseous shroud represents
outer layers expelled from the dying, once sun-like star, now a tiny pinprick of light
seen at the nebula's center. Intense ultraviolet light from the hot central star ionizes
atoms in the gas. In the picture, the blue color in the center is ionized helium, the cyan
color of the inner ring is the glow of hydrogen and oxygen, and the reddish color of
the outer ring is from nitrogen and sulfur. The Ring Nebula is about one light-year
across and 2,000 light-years away.

astronomer.
2013 June 4

Orion Nebula in Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Sulfur
Image Credit & Copyright: Csar Blanco Gonzlez
Explanation: Few astronomical sights excite the imagination like the nearby stellar
nursery known as the Orion Nebula. The Nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young
stars at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud. Many of the filamentary
structures visible in the above image are actually shock waves - fronts where fast
moving material encounters slow moving gas. The Orion Nebula spans about 40 light
years and is located about 1500 light years away in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy
as the Sun. The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the unaided eye just below
and to the left of the easily identifiable belt of three stars in the popular constellation
Orion. The above image shows the nebula in three colors specifically emitted
by hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur gas. The whole Orion Nebula cloud complex,
which includes the Horsehead Nebula, will slowly disperse over the next 100,000
years.

astronomer.
2013 May 21

The Red Rectangle Nebula from Hubble
Image Credit: ESA, Hubble, NASA; Reprocessing: Steven Marx, Hubble Legacy
Archive
Explanation: How was the unusual Red Rectangle nebula created? At the nebula's
center is an aging binary star system that surely powers the nebula but does not, as
yet, explain its colors. The unusual shape of the Red Rectangle is likely due to a thick
dust torus which pinches the otherwise spherical outflow into tip-touchingcone
shapes. Because we view the torus edge-on, the boundary edges of the cone shapes
seem to form an X. The distinct rungs suggest the outflow occurs in fits and starts.
The unusual colors of the nebula are less well understood, however,
and speculation holds that they are partly provided by hydrocarbon molecules that
may actually be building blocks for organic life. The Red Rectangle nebula lies about
2,300 light years away towards the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The
nebula is shown above in great detail as recently reprocessed image from Hubble
Space Telescope. In a few million years, as one of the central stars becomesfurther
depleted of nuclear fuel, the Red Rectangle nebula will likely bloom into a planetary
nebula.
Cosmonova: APOD editor to speak in Sweden on May 28

The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STSci/AURA)
Explanation: While drifting through the cosmos, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud
became sculpted by stellar winds and radiation to assume a recognizable shape.
Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is embedded in the vast and complex Orion
Nebula (M42). A potentially rewarding but difficult object to view personallywith a
small telescope, the above gorgeously detailed image was recently taken in infrared
light by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope in honor of the 23rd anniversary
of Hubble's launch. The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500 light years distant, is
cataloged as Barnard 33 and is seen above primarily because it is backlit by the
nearby massive star Sigma Orionis. The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its
apparent shape over the next few million years and will eventually be destroyed by the
high energy starlight.
astronomer.
2013 April 9

NGC 3132: The Southern Ring Nebula
Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA; Processing - Donald Waid
Explanation: It's the dim star, not the bright one, near the center of NGC 3132 that
created this odd but beautiful planetary nebula. Nicknamed the Eight-Burst
Nebula and the Southern Ring Nebula, the glowing gas originated in the outer
layers of a star like our Sun. In this reprocessed color picture, the hot purplish pool of
light seen surrounding this binary system is energized by the hot surface of the faint
star. Although photographed to explore unusual symmetries, it's the asymmetries that
help make this planetary nebula so intriguing. Neither the unusual shape of the
surrounding cooler shell nor the structure and placements of the cool filamentarydust
lanes running across NGC 3132 are well understood.

Astronomy Picture of The Day

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