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Explanation: It's the dim star, not the bright one, near the center of NGC 3132 that created this odd but beautiful planetary nebula. Nicknamed the Eight-Burst Nebula and the Southern Ring Nebula, the glowing gas originated in the outer layers of a star like our Sun. In this representative color picture, the hot blue pool of light seen surrounding this binary system is energized by the hot surface of the faint star. Although photographed to explore unusual symmetries, it's the asymmetries that help make NGC 3132 so intriguing. Neither the unusual shape of the surrounding cooler shell nor the structure and placements of the cool filamentary dust lanes running across NGC 3132 are well understood.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
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: planetary nebula - binary star - NGC 3132
Publications with words: planetary nebula - binary star - NGC 3132
See also:
- The Medusa Nebula
- Jones Emberson 1
- APOD: 2024 February 12 Á HFG1 & Abell 6: Planetary Nebulae
- APOD: 2023 December 24 Á NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf
- APOD: 2023 October 3 Á MyCn 18: The Engraved Hourglass Planetary Nebula
- NGC 1360: The Robin's Egg Nebula
- APOD: 2023 April 16 Á M2 9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula