Astronomy Picture of the Day
    


The Cat's Eye Nebula
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The Cat's Eye Nebula
Credit & Copyright: NASA, Hubble Space Telescope
Explanation: Three thousand light years away, a dying star throws off shells of glowing gas. This Hubble Space Telescope image reveals "The Cat's Eye Nebula" to be one of the most complex "planetary nebulae" known. In fact, the features seen in this image are so complex that astronomers suspect the visible central star may actually be a double star system. The term planetary nebula, used to describe this general class of objects, is misleading. Although these objects may appear round and planet-like in small telescopes, high resolution images reveal them to be stars surrounded by cocoons of gas blown off in the late stages of evolution.

Latest APOD Featuring this Image: July 4, 1996

For more information see NASA Space Telescope Scientific Institute press release.

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day

Publications with keywords: nebula - Cat's Eye Nebula
Publications with words: nebula - Cat's Eye Nebula
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