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.

                               2025 August 31
      [2]A starfield surrounds a bright nebula. The nebula is somewhat
     rectangular like a pillow and is mostly white with brown filaments
   inside and blue shells surrounding. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                    NGC 7027: The Pillow Planetary Nebula
   Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]Hubble; Processing: [6]Delio Tolivia
                                  Cadrecha

   Explanation: What created this unusual planetary nebula? Dubbed the
   Pillow Nebula and the Flying Carpet Nebula, [7]NGC 7027 is one of the
   smallest, brightest, and most unusually shaped [8]planetary nebulas
   known. Given its expansion rate, [9]NGC 7027 first started expanding,
   as visible from Earth, about 600 years ago. For much of its history,
   the planetary nebula has been expelling shells, as seen in blue in the
   [10]featured image by the [11]Hubble Space Telescope. In modern times,
   though, for [12]reasons unknown, it began ejecting gas and dust (seen
   in brown) in specific directions that created a new pattern that seems
   to have [13]four corners. What lies at the nebula's center is unknown,
   with [14]one hypothesis holding it to be a [15]close binary star system
   where one star sheds gas onto an erratic disk orbiting the other star.
   NGC 7027, about 3,000 [16]light years away, was first discovered in
   1878 and [17]can be seen with a standard backyard telescope toward the
   [18]constellation of the Swan ([19]Cygnus).

                    Tomorrow's picture: smashed moonball
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    Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([34]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [35]Specific rights apply.
            [36]NASA Web Privacy, [37]Accessibility, [38]Notices;
                A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC,
                         [42]NASA Science Activation
                           & [43]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2508/ngc7027_HubbleDtc_960.jpg
   3. http://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.esa.int/
   5. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/overview/about-hubble/
   6. https://www.instagram.com/deliotolivia/
   7. https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic2011/
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_7027
  10. https://www.instagram.com/p/BSDeLRLgthJ/
  11. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/
  12. https://i.imgflip.com/2225wb.jpg
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210926.html
  14. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020AAS...23530703K/abstract
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060521.html
  16. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/
  17. https://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/heic2011d/
  18. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-a-constellation-asterism
  19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_(constellation)
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250830.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  26. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  29. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250831
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250901.html
  31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  42. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  43. http://www.mtu.edu/