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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
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.
Nebula Nova Cygni Turns On
Explanation: Old photographs show no evidence of the above nebula. In 1992, a white dwarf star toward the constellation of Cygnus blew off its outer layers in a classical nova explosion: an event called Nova Cygni 1992 . Light flooded the local interstellar neighborhood , illuminated this existing gas cloud, excited the existing hydrogen , and hence caused the red emission . The only gas actually expelled by the nova can be seen as a small red ball just above the photograph's center. Eventually, light from the nova shell will fade, and this nebula will again become invisible.
| Date | January 16, 2005 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit: Peter Garnavich ( Notre Dame ), 1.2-m Telescope , Whipple Observatory |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |