                        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.

                                 2023 May 25

                           Cat's Eye Wide and Deep
        Image Credit & Copyright: Jean-François Bax, Guillaume Gruntz

   Explanation: The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the best known
   planetary nebulae in the sky. Its more familiar outlines are seen in
   the brighter central region of the nebula in this impressive wide-angle
   view. But this wide and deep image combining data from two telescopes
   also reveals its extremely faint outer halo. At an estimated distance
   of 3,000 light-years, the faint outer halo is over 5 light-years
   across. Planetary nebulae have long been appreciated as a final phase
   in the life of a sun-like star. More recently, some planetary nebulae
   are found to have halos like this one, likely formed of material
   shrugged off during earlier episodes in the star's evolution. While the
   planetary nebula phase is thought to last for around 10,000 years,
   astronomers estimate the age of the outer filamentary portions of this
   halo to be 50,000 to 90,000 years. Visible on the right, some 50
   million light-years beyond the watchful planetary nebula, lies spiral
   galaxy NGC 6552.

                 Tomorrow's picture: Virgo Cluster Galaxies
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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