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Astronomy Picture of the Day - NGC 1360: The Robin's Egg Nebula
NASA ^ | 14 May, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Andrea Iorio, Vikas Chander & ShaRA Team

Posted on 05/14/2025 11:51:33 AM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: This pretty nebula lies some 1,500 light-years away, its shape and color in this telescopic view reminiscent of a robin's egg. The cosmic cloud spans about 3 light-years, nestled securely within the boundaries of the southern constellation of the Furnace (Fornax). Recognized as a planetary nebula, egg-shaped NGC 1360 doesn't represent a beginning, though. Instead, it corresponds to a brief and final phase in the evolution of an aging star. In fact, visible at the center of the nebula, the central star of NGC 1360 is known to be a binary star system likely consisting of two evolved white dwarf stars, less massive but much hotter than the Sun. Their intense and otherwise invisible ultraviolet radiation has stripped away electrons from the atoms in their mutually surrounding gaseous shroud. The blue-green hue inside of NGC 1360 seen here is the strong emission produced as electrons recombine with doubly ionized oxygen atoms.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; 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 05/14/2025 11:51:33 AM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 05/14/2025 11:51:50 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

3 posted on 05/14/2025 11:52:35 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

4 posted on 05/14/2025 11:58:09 AM PDT by Deaf and Discerning
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To: MtnClimber

It’s a Galactic GENDER REVEAL!........................


5 posted on 05/14/2025 12:00:30 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: MtnClimber

It’s beautiful!


6 posted on 05/14/2025 12:18:34 PM PDT by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! 🔭)
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To: MtnClimber

Doubly ionized.


7 posted on 05/14/2025 12:51:26 PM PDT by NavyShoe
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To: MtnClimber

So it’s a heterosexual binary star system—one male and one female.


8 posted on 05/14/2025 1:03:41 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: Red Badger
It’s a Galactic GENDER REVEAL!........................

I hope it is not a trans nebula I posted here on FR. I would never hear the end of it.

9 posted on 05/14/2025 1:05:03 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Wow.


10 posted on 05/14/2025 5:31:09 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as)
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To: MtnClimber
With the false color image it looks like a plushy that you might find in a child's nursery (except that its light years across...)

Thanks for posting!

11 posted on 05/15/2025 9:36:25 AM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission
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To: MtnClimber
M.C. Slide to some astrophysical/geophysical day stuff (I also posted on another thread.)

Solar flare May 15 2025

Solar Activity, sun is very active. Some radio blackouts possible.

Sun news May 15: Explosive AR4087 firing on all cylinders (11 UTC to 11 UTC)

"Today’s top story: Solar activity is soaring thanks to powerhouse active region AR4087, now in a prime spot on the sun’s northeast limb (edge). After firing off an X-class flare yesterday, it kept the flares coming with two M-class eruptions, including an M7.7. That’s not far from the X flare threshold, which is the equivalent of an M10. This intense blast caused an R2 (moderate) radio blackout over the Mediterranean Sea. With AR4087 now fully in view, it’s showing a beta-gamma-delta magnetic configuration, which is the most complex and therefore most volatile arrangement. Accordingly, forecasters have upped the flare forecast to a 75% chance of M-class flares and a 30% chance of X-class flares. Stay tuned! This solar beast is just getting started."

People should watch this one! Myanmar 7.7 earthquake.

Myanmar earthquake: Is this the first fault rupture on film?

Video record of the moment the earth slid along the fault line. The camera is within 20 or 30 yards of the fault and the "Jump" to the right is very perceptible. Do this full screen! Starts at the time of the earthquake.

12 posted on 05/15/2025 11:30:15 AM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission
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