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.

                                2022 July 10
     [2]The featured image shows an image of the center of the Cat's Eye
   Nebula as taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. A bright star is in the
    center surrounded by a complex red nebula. Please see the explanation
                       for more detailed information.

                    In the Center of the Cat's Eye Nebula
    Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]Hubble, [6]HLA; Reprocessing & Copyright:
                             [7]Raul Villaverde

   Explanation: Three thousand light-years away, a dying star throws off
   shells of glowing gas. [8]This image from the [9]Hubble Space Telescope
   reveals the [10]Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543), to be one of the most
   complex [11]planetary nebulae known. [12]Spanning half a
   [13]light-year, the features seen in the [14]Cat's Eye are so complex
   that astronomers suspect the bright [15]central object may actually be
   a [16]binary star system. The term [17]planetary nebula, used to
   describe this general class of objects, is [18]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 [19]cocoons of gas blown off in the late stages of
   [20]stellar evolution. [21]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 [22]planetary nebula phase
   of evolution ... in about [23]5 billion years.

                    Tomorrow's picture: sahara andromeda
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [35]Robert Nemiroff ([36]MTU) & [37]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([38]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [39]Specific rights apply.
              [40]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [41]ASD at [42]NASA / [43]GSFC
                           & [44]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2207/CatsEye_HubbleVillaVerde_960.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. http://www.esa.int/
   5. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html
   6. https://hla.stsci.edu/
   7. https://www.flickr.com/photos/113243238@N08/
   8. https://www.flickr.com/photos/113243238@N08/32197452446/
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090525.html
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat's_Eye_Nebula
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap990916.html
  13. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211107.html
  15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw0VJ1K93PM
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap970219.html
  17. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/planetary_nebula.html
  18. https://chert-poberi.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/proga/222/sasha-19october1619394239.jpg
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100221.html
  20. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031101.html
  22. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/p/Planetary+Nebulae
  23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_far_future#Future_of_the_Earth.2C_the_Solar_System_and_the_Universe
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220709.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  33. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220710
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220711.html
  35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  37. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  38. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  41. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  44. http://www.mtu.edu/