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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 27   
       A complex orange and purple nebula with a complex texture is shown in   
      front of a dark starfield. Please see the explanation for more detailed   
                                   information.   
      
                           IC 418: The Spirograph Nebula   
        Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA);   
                      Acknowledgement: R. Sahai (JPL) et al.   
      
      Explanation: What is creating the strange texture of IC 418? Dubbed the   
      Spirograph Nebula for its resemblance to drawings from a cyclical   
      drawing tool, planetary nebula IC 418 shows patterns that are not well   
      understood. Perhaps they are related to chaotic winds from the variable   
      central star, which changes brightness unpredictably in just a few   
      hours. By contrast, evidence indicates that only a few million years   
      ago, IC 418 was probably a well-understood star similar to our Sun.   
      Only a few thousand years ago, IC 418 was probably a common red giant   
      star. Since running out of nuclear fuel, though, the outer envelope has   
      begun expanding outward leaving a hot remnant core destined to become a   
      white-dwarf star, visible in the image center. The light from the   
      central core excites surrounding atoms in the nebula causing them to   
      glow. IC 418 lies about 2000 light-years away and spans 0.3 light-years   
      across. This false-color image taken from the Hubble Space Telescope   
      reveals the unusual details.   
      
                     Tomorrow's picture: interstellar tadpoles   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.   
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                              NASA Science Activation   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
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