¿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2020 June 7 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Halo of the Cat's Eye Image Credit & Copyright: R. Corradi ([3]Isaac Newton Group), [4]Nordic Optical Telescope Explanation: The [5]Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the best known planetary nebulae [6]in the sky. Its haunting [7]symmetries are seen in the very central region of [8]this stunning false-color picture, processed to reveal the enormous but extremely faint halo of gaseous material, over three [9]light-years across, which surrounds the brighter, familiar [10]planetary nebula. Made with data from the [11]Nordic Optical Telescope in the [12]Canary Islands, the composite picture shows extended emission from the nebula. [13]Planetary nebulae have long been appreciated as a final phase [14]in the life of a Sun-like star. Only much more recently however, have some planetaries been [15]found to have halos like this one, likely formed of material shrugged off during earlier active episodes in the [16]star's evolution. While the [17]planetary nebula phase is [18]thought to last for around 10,000 years, astronomers estimate the age of the [19]outer filamentary portions of this halo to be 50,000 to 90,000 years. Tomorrow's picture: Venusian sun ring __________________________________________________________________ [20]< | [21]Archive | [22]Submissions | [23]Index | [24]Search | [25]Calendar | [26]RSS | [27]Education | [28]About APOD | [29]Discuss | [30]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell ([34]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [35]Specific rights apply. [36]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC & [40]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2006/catseye2_not_2048.jpg 3. http://www.ing.iac.es/ 4. http://www.not.iac.es/general/photos/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091227.html 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190501.html 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080804.html 8. https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0414b/ 9. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula 11. http://www.not.iac.es/ 12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Islands 13. https://www.noao.edu/jacoby/pn_gallery.html 14. http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lifecycles/stars.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140522.html 16. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve 17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ4-m1vtTmE 18. https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/09/04/08/24/cat-4451003_1280.jpg 19. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw0VJ1K93PM 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200606.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 29. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200607 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200608.html 31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 37. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 38. https://www.nasa.gov/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 40. http://www.mtu.edu/