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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 April 24   
      
                             NGC 6164: A Dragon's Egg   
                      Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Stern   
      
      Explanation: Beautiful emission nebula NGC 6164 was created by a rare,   
      hot, luminous O-type star, some 40 times as massive as the Sun. Seen at   
      the center of the cosmic cloud, the star is a mere 3 to 4 million years   
      old. In another three to four million years the massive star will end   
      its life in a supernova explosion. Spanning around 4 light-years, the   
      nebula itself has a bipolar symmetry. That makes it similar in   
      appearance to more common and familiar planetary nebulae - the gaseous   
      shrouds surrounding dying sun-like stars. Also like many planetary   
      nebulae, NGC 6164 has been found to have an extensive, faint halo,   
      revealed in this deep image of the region. Expanding into the   
      surrounding interstellar medium, the material in the halo is likely   
      from an earlier active phase of the O star. This gorgeous telescopic   
      view is a composite of extensive narrow-band image data, highlighting   
      glowing atomic hydrogen gas in red and oxygen in greenish hues, with   
      broad-band data for the surrounding starfield. Also known as the   
      Dragon's Egg nebula, NGC 6164 is 4,200 light-years away in the   
      right-angled southern constellation of Norma.   
      
                        Tomorrow's picture: Lucy in the sky   
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          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
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