Posted on 01/19/2026 11:03:16 AM PST by MtnClimber
Explanation: What powers this unusual nebula? CTB 1 is the expanding gas shell that was left when a massive star toward the constellation of Cassiopeia exploded about 10,000 years ago. The star likely detonated when it ran out of elements, near its core, that could create stabilizing pressure with nuclear fusion. The resulting supernova remnant, nicknamed the Medulla Nebula for its brain-like shape, still glows in visible light because of the heat generated by its collision with confining interstellar gas. Why the nebula also glows in X-ray light, though, remains a topic of research. One hypothesis holds that an energetic pulsar was created and powers the nebula with a fast outwardly moving wind. Following this lead, a pulsar was found in radio waves that appears to have been expelled by the supernova explosion at over 1000 kilometers per second. Although the Medulla Nebula appears as large as a full moon, it is so faint that it took 84-hours of exposure with a small telescope in Texas, USA, to create the featured image.
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Pinging the APOD list
🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔
It almost looks organic.
Yes, no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.
Wow.
“Check out the big brain on Brad.”
Reminds me of an old, corny sci-fi movie called “The Crawling Eye”. Saw it on Svengoolie (Me-TV).
That’s a great movie! One of my favorite of that type.
In Pittsburgh Me-TV is controlled by a company called Cox. Our TV supplier is Verizon. If I try to open a TV channel that is Me-TV - I get a message that Cox is trying to increase their rates so high that Verizon doesn’t want to match. So I can’t watch anything by Cox.
This is irritating because Svengoolie, and even Steelers playoffs are on Cox. So are many of my favorites.
I am sure that Cox is waiting for Verizon to cave. I hope they don’t.
F*ck Cox.
In a Universe of impossibilities, how is THAT even POSSIBLE?
Mind-blowing.
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