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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.
Unusual Nebula Pa 30
Explanation: What created this unusual celestial firework? The nebula, dubbed Pa 30 , appears in the same sky direction now as a bright “ guest star ” did in the year 1181 . Although Pa 30's filaments look similar to that created by a nova (for example GK Per ), and a planetary nebula (for example NGC 6751 ), some astronomers now propose that it was created by a rare type of supernova : a thermonuclear Type Iax, and so is (also) named SN 1181 . In this model , the supernova was not the result of the detonation of a single star, but rather a blast that occurred when two white dwarf stars spiraled together and merged. The blue dot in the center is hypothesized to be a zombie star , the remnant white dwarf that somehow survived this supernova -level explosion. The featured image combines images and data obtained with infrared ( WISE ), visible ( MDM , Pan-STARRS ), and X-ray ( Chandra , XMM ) telescopes. Future observations and analyses may tell us more .
NASA Coverage: Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 April 8
| Date | April 3, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Image Credit: NASA , ESA , USAF , NSF ; Processing: G. Ferrand ( U. Manitoba ), J. English ( U. Manitoba ), R. A. Fesen ( Dartmouth ), C. Treyturik (U. Manitoba); Text: G. Ferrand & J. English |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |