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Astronomy Picture of the Day - In the Center of the Cat's Eye Nebula
APOD.NASA.gov ^ | 10 Jul, 2022 | Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Reprocessing & Copyright: Raul Villaverde

Posted on 07/10/2022 5:20:24 PM PDT by MtnClimber

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 (NGC 6543), to be one of the most complex planetary nebulae known. Spanning half a light-year, 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 with large telescopes reveal them to be stars surrounded by cocoons of gas blown off in the late stages of stellar evolution. Gazing into this Cat's Eye, astronomers may well be seeing more than detailed structure, they may be seeing the fate of our Sun, destined to enter its own planetary nebula phase of evolution ... in about 5 billion years.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: nasa
To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 07/10/2022 5:20:24 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 07/10/2022 5:20:41 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; America_Right; AZ .44 MAG; ...
Pinging the APOD list.

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔


3 posted on 07/10/2022 5:21:40 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

looks more like a hemorrhoid incrusted boo boo hole


4 posted on 07/10/2022 5:24:20 PM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom Hi Dad)
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To: MtnClimber

Awesome.


5 posted on 07/10/2022 5:55:05 PM PDT by left that other site (Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.)
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To: MtnClimber

Translucent grapefruit.


6 posted on 07/10/2022 6:20:49 PM PDT by telescope115 (Proud member of the ANTIFAuci movement. )
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To: telescope115

Raw cheeseburger...


7 posted on 07/10/2022 6:52:20 PM PDT by null and void (If I had a buck for every girl that found me unattractive, they would eventually find me attractive!)
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To: null and void

Hibiscus


8 posted on 07/10/2022 8:21:19 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: al baby

... and you know this because..........................😜


9 posted on 07/11/2022 5:31:54 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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