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Astronomy Picture of the Day - New Ghosts Revealed in Cassiopeia
NASA ^ | 21 Oct, 2026 | Credit & Copyright: Louis Leroux-Géré, Thibault Rouillée, Vincent Martin, Cédric de Decker (Starfron

Posted on 10/21/2026 12:15:03 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: Jinkies, look at all those ghosts! It took 100 hours of observation and a special oxygen filter for today’s image to capture three faint nebulas hidden in the Cassiopeia constellation. IC 59 and IC 63, the original Ghosts of Cassiopeia, haunt the region near multi-star system γ Cassiopeia. Energetic light from γ Cassiopeia causes the hydrogen gas in IC 59 and 63 to glow red. Their dust reflects and scatters some blue-ish white starlight. Newly discovered Objects 1, 2, and 3 appear as blue phantoms, revealing the presence of ionized oxygen. But ionized by what? Like at the bow of a speeding boat, γ Cassiopeia may be piling up material as the system moves through interstellar gas and dust. It follows that Object 3 may be the compressed and heated oxygen of that bow shock. Object 1 could be a planetary nebula if a central white dwarf is identified. The origins of these astronomical apparitions remain a mystery to be solved.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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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 10/21/2026 12:15:03 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 10/21/2026 12:15:27 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

3 posted on 10/21/2026 12:15:54 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: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 31R1O; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

4 posted on 10/21/2026 12:16:53 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
I was just looking at Cassiopeia the other day and thinking...


5 posted on 10/21/2026 12:18:59 PM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: MtnClimber

Wow.


6 posted on 10/21/2026 12:30:40 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: MtnClimber

Whoa.


7 posted on 10/21/2026 12:30:46 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: MtnClimber

Do not know if I ever read just why Cass A is such a strong microwave energy source. We used it all the time to verify the performance of ground station antennas due to the predictable and easily detected energy from it.


8 posted on 10/21/2026 12:43:27 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: MtnClimber

Where would Cassiopeia be getting new ghosts from?


9 posted on 10/21/2026 12:49:25 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: MtnClimber

Fun Fact: If you were on the planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the sun would be the brightest star in the constellation Cassiopeia.

Not near these images though. The Sun would be a little to the left of the “W”

Also fun fact, Sirius would still be the brightest star from Proxima, but it would also form a visual double with Betelgeuse which must be a spectacular site.


10 posted on 10/21/2026 1:03:34 PM PDT by qam1 (There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)
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To: DannyTN
Where would Cassiopeia be getting new ghosts from?

Blue cities and blue states, of course. Look at the color.

11 posted on 10/21/2026 1:03:39 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
Blue cities and blue states, of course. Look at the color.

These ghost probably already voted in several elections.

12 posted on 10/21/2026 1:05:05 PM PDT by qam1 (There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)
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To: MtnClimber

Spooooky.


13 posted on 10/21/2026 1:55:59 PM PDT by AFB-XYZ
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To: MtnClimber

That makes sense. those blue people die with so much DTS hatred.


14 posted on 10/21/2026 2:12:25 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: qam1
Sirius...form a visual double with Betelgeuse which must be a spectacular site

What would be angular separation be?

15 posted on 10/21/2026 2:20:51 PM PDT by plsvn
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To: qam1

Cool. Is there an astronomy program that shows this? I’d love to check it out.


16 posted on 10/21/2026 2:34:28 PM PDT by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum…)
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To: telescope115; plsvn
From Celestia looking at Orion from Proxima

Not sure if they are still updating this program

17 posted on 10/21/2026 9:00:00 PM PDT by qam1 (There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)
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To: qam1

Thanks!


18 posted on 10/21/2026 9:08:29 PM PDT by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum…)
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