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.

                                 2026 May 27
   [2]A bubble of gas occupies the center of the image with a few stars in
    the fore- and background. On opposite sides of the bubble, there are
    two regions where the gas pinches inward. This makes the inner region
          of the nebula appear like a peanut inside a larger ring.

                     PK 164 +31.1: The Headphone Nebula
                 Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Bernard Miller
   Text: [4]Keighley Rockcliffe ([5]NASA [6]GSFC, [7]UMBC CSST, [8]CRESST
                                     II)

   Explanation: What is a pair of headphones doing in the sky? Today’s
   image features the Headphone Nebula, also known as [9]PK 164 +31.1 or
   [10]Jones-Emberson 1. This [11]planetary nebula, the remnant of a
   [12]dying Sun-like star, [13]faintly occupies an [14]angular region of
   [15]the Lynx constellation about 1/5^th the diameter of the full moon.
   The red and blue-ish green colors trace hydrogen and oxygen atoms,
   respectively, that have been [16]excited and ionized by the nebula's
   central [17]white dwarf. The headphone shape, where two lobes of
   hydrogen puncture the inner region of oxygen, adds this object to a
   long list of [18]oddly shaped nebulae. The morphology of such strange
   nebulae hint at the presence of [19]a stellar or planetary companion,
   which can stir the material flowing out from the dying star. You can
   listen to [20]Hubble and [21]JWST [22]sonifications of planetary
   nebulae through your very own headphones!

                Tomorrow's picture: gaze into a Crystal Ball
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [34]Robert Nemiroff ([35]MTU) & [36]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([37]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [38]Specific rights apply.
            [39]NASA Web Privacy, [40]Accessibility, [41]Notices;
                A service of: [42]ASD at [43]NASA / [44]GSFC,
                         [45]NASA Science Activation
                           & [46]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2605/headphone_nebula.jpg
   3. https://www.facebook.com/bernard.miller.752/
   4. https://kerockcliffe.com/
   5. https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/keighley.e.rockcliffe
   6. https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/
   7. https://csst.umbc.edu/directory/
   8. https://cresst2.umd.edu/
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121030.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230224.html
  11. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/*/Planetary+Nebulae
  12. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/stars/
  13. https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/2011JBAA..121..369M
  14. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/a/Angular+Diameter
  15. https://noirlab.edu/public/education/constellations/lynx/
  16. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/atom.html
  17. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/dwarfs1.html
  18. https://www.space.com/13093-strange-nebula-shapes-images-gallery.html
  19. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/stellar-winds-how-planetary-nebulae-stunning-shapes
  20. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/multimedia/sonifications/
  21. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/sonifications/
  22. https://www.nasa.gov/data-sonifications/
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260526.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  29. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  32. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260527
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260528.html
  34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  36. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  37. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  42. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  45. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  46. http://www.mtu.edu/