Astronomy Picture of the Day -- The Cat's Eye Nebula

NASA ^ | Sunday, July 03, 2016 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: Three thousand light-years away, a dying star throws off shells of glowing gas. This image from the Hubble Space Telescope reveals the Cat's Eye Nebula to be one of the most complex planetary nebulae known. In fact, the features seen in the Cat's Eye are so complex that astronomers suspect the bright central object may actually be a binary star system. The term planetary nebula, used to describe this general class of objects, is misleading. Although these objects may appear round and planet-like in small telescopes, high resolution images reveal them to be stars surrounded by cocoons of gas blown off in the late stages of stellar evolution.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit and Copyright: J. P. Harrington (U. Maryland) & K. J. Borkowski (NCSU) HST, NASA]

[SunkenCiv]

You just knew it was going to be a cat, right?

The Big One

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[left that other site]

Cool!

Happy Independence Day, Sunken Civ!

[Boardwalk]

That’s a beauty! I’ve got Nine lives, Cat’s eyes....

[minnesota_bound]

Ah geez! This is a repeat from Today’s Picture: June 28, 1995!
Isn’t there anything new in the universe?....... : )

Calendar 1995-present
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap950628.html

[SunkenCiv]

2nd biggest selling album in history, last I checked.

[SunkenCiv]

You too!