                        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 September 29
    A starfield has a bright pink swirling nebula in it. The top part of
     the nebula shows much detail, while the bottom part is mostly open.
          Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                         Sh2-188: The Shrimp Nebula
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Pawel Piechnik

   Explanation: What causes the swirl in the Shrimp Nebula? Its high speed
   is likely. What is sure is that Sh2-188 is one of the larger planetary
   nebulas on the night sky, by angular size, spanning about half the
   diameter of the Moon. Moreover, the white-dwarf core -- leftover from
   the Sun-like star that shed its outer atmosphere -- is moving unusually
   fast through interstellar space, creating a bow shock most visible on
   the upper left that is similar to a boat plowing through water.
   Although faint, the Shrimp Nebula glows also by compressing and
   brightening gas on its leading edge. The featured image was taken in
   the light of hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen by a backyard telescope in
   Krakow, Poland and then digitally adjusted to approximate the nebula's
   true colors.

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