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Keyword: antnebula

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  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula

    04/25/2021 3:26:34 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 13 replies
    APOD.NASA.gov ^ | 25 Apr, 2021 | Image Credit: R. Sahai (JPL) et al., Hubble Heritage Team, ESA, NASA
    Explanation: Why isn't this ant a big sphere? Planetary nebula Mz3 is being cast off by a star similar to our Sun that is, surely, round. Why then would the gas that is streaming away create an ant-shaped nebula that is distinctly not round? Clues might include the high 1000-kilometer per second speed of the expelled gas, the light-year long length of the structure, and the magnetism of the star featured here at the nebula's center. One possible answer is that Mz3 is hiding a second, dimmer star that orbits close in to the bright star. A competing hypothesis holds...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula

    04/26/2015 10:39:08 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 13 replies
    NASA ^ | April 26, 2015 | (see photo credit)
    Explanation: Why isn't this ant a big sphere? Planetary nebula Mz3 is being cast off by a star similar to our Sun that is, surely, round. Why then would the gas that is streaming away create an ant-shaped nebula that is distinctly not round? Clues might include the high 1000-kilometer per second speed of the expelled gas, the light-year long length of the structure, and the magnetism of the star visible above at the nebula's center. One possible answer is that Mz3 is hiding a second, dimmer star that orbits close in to the bright star. A competing hypothesis holds...