                        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.

                               2026 February 3
    A dense starfield surrounds a blue and red nebula that stretches from
    the lower left to the upper right. The outer parts of the nebula are
      blue and filamentary, while the innermost part is red and bright.
          Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                    Red Spider Planetary Nebula from Webb
           Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. H. Kastner (RIT)

   Explanation: Oh what a tangled web a planetary nebula can weave. The
   Red Spider Planetary Nebula shows the complex structure that can result
   when a normal star ejects its outer gases and becomes a white dwarf
   star. Officially tagged NGC 6537, this two-lobed symmetric planetary
   nebula houses one of the hottest white dwarfs ever observed, probably
   as part of a binary star system. Internal winds flowing out from the
   central stars, have been measured in excess of 1,000 kilometers per
   second. These winds expand the nebula, flow along the nebula's walls,
   and cause waves of hot gas and dust to collide. Atoms caught in these
   colliding shocks radiate light shown in the featured false-color
   infrared picture by the James Webb Space Telescope. The Red Spider
   Nebula lies toward the constellation of the Archer (Sagittarius). Its
   distance is not well known but has been estimated by some to be about
   4,000 light-years.

                     Tomorrow's picture: ringing galaxy
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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