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                           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.   
      
                                   2025 March 7   
      
                             Planetary Nebula Abell 7   
               Image Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander   
      
      Explanation: Very faint planetary nebula Abell 7 is about 1,800   
      light-years distant. It lies just south of Orion in planet Earth's   
      skies toward the constellation Lepus, The Hare. Surrounded by Milky Way   
      stars and near the line-of-sight to distant background galaxies its   
      generally simple spherical shape, about 8 light-years in diameter, is   
      revealed in this deep telescopic image. Within the cosmic cloud are   
      beautiful and complex structures though, enhanced by the use of long   
      exposures and narrowband filters that capture emission from hydrogen,   
      sulfur, and oxygen atoms. Otherwise Abell 7 would be much too faint to   
      be appreciated by eye. A planetary nebula represents a very brief final   
      phase in stellar evolution that our own Sun will experience 5 billion   
      years hence, as the nebula's central, once sun-like star shrugs off its   
      outer layers. Abell 7 itself is estimated to be 20,000 years old. But   
      its central star, seen here as a fading white dwarf, is some 10 billion   
      years old.   
      
                         Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend   
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          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
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