                        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 May 28
      A white nebula over a black background with a bright star in the
                                   center.

                      NGC 1514: The Crystal Ball Nebula
   Image Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA; Image
         Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini
         Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska
       Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
             Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

   Explanation: What do you see in this crystal ball? The featured image
   shows NGC 1514, known as the Crystal Ball Nebula, observed by the
   Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, in Hawai'i. NGC 1514 is 1,500
   light-years away and was discovered by William Herschel in 1790. This
   planetary nebula is formed when a star becomes a red giant and ejects
   its outer gas layers. The ejected shell of gas is heated up by the core
   of the star to temperatures hotter than the surface of our Sun: that
   makes the gas shine, creating beautiful images like this one. The
   slightly asymmetrical shape of the Crystal Ball Nebula reveals a
   secret: the bright star in the center has a companion. As the two stars
   orbit each other with a period of about nine years, they shape the gas
   around them. In about 10,000 - 25,000 years the nebula will be
   dissipated by their stellar winds.

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