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.

                               2024 January 7
      [2]An image of the Cat's Eye Nebula shows an unsually shaped gas
   structure glowing in purple with a bright orange center. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                  The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical and X-ray
     Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]Hubble Legacy Archive; [6]Chandra
                                 X-ray Obs.;
                    Processing & Copyright: [7]Rudy Pohl

   Explanation: To some it looks like a cat's eye. To others, perhaps like
   a giant cosmic [8]conch [9]shell. It is actually one of the brightest
   and most highly detailed [10]planetary nebula known, composed of gas
   expelled in the brief yet glorious phase near the end of life of a
   Sun-like star. [11]This nebula's dying central star may have produced
   the outer circular [12]concentric shells by [13]shrugging off [14]outer
   [15]layers in a series of regular convulsions. The [16]formation of the
   beautiful, complex-yet-symmetric [17]inner structures, however, is
   [18]not well understood. The [19]featured image is a composite of a
   digitally sharpened [20]Hubble Space Telescope image with [21]X-ray
   light [22]captured by the orbiting [23]Chandra Observatory. The
   exquisite floating space statue spans over half a [24]light-year
   across. Of course, [25]gazing into this Cat's Eye, humanity may well be
   seeing the fate of our sun, destined to enter its own [26]planetary
   nebula phase of evolution ... in [27]about 5 billion years.

    Free APOD Lecture: [28]January 9, 2024 to the Amateur Astronomers of
                           Association of New York
                    Tomorrow's picture: Venus year around
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [40]Robert Nemiroff ([41]MTU) & [42]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([43]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [44]Specific rights apply.
              [45]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [46]ASD at [47]NASA / [48]GSFC,
                         [49]NASA Science Activation
                           & [50]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2401/CatsEye_HubblePohl_1278.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.esa.int/
   5. https://hla.stsci.edu/
   6. http://chandra.harvard.edu/about/
   7. https://www.astrobin.com/users/Rudy_Pohl/
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conch
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conch#/media/File:Melongena_corona_2.jpg
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula
  11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw0VJ1K93PM
  12. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004A&A...417..637C/abstract
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011003.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031101.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200607.html
  16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOA-19n4tiQ
  17. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012ApJ...759L..28P/abstract
  18. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/banner-three-pets-atttentive-thinking-600nw-2136132101.jpg
  19. https://www.flickr.com/photos/rudypohl/40388468763/in/dateposted/
  20. https://www.stsci.edu/hst
  21. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/11_xrays
  22. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/openFITS/multiwavelength_data.html
  23. http://chandra.harvard.edu/about/
  24. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220710.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/planetary_nebulae.html
  27. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_far_future#/media/File:Red_Giant_Earth_warm.jpg
  28. https://aaa.org/event/2023-astronomy-picture-of-the-day/
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240106.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  35. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  38. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240107
  39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240108.html
  40. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  41. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  42. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  43. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  44. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  45. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  46. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  47. https://www.nasa.gov/
  48. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  49. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  50. http://www.mtu.edu/