MSGID: 1:153/757.0 3cccc717   
   TZUTC: -0700   
   CHRS: LATIN-1 2   
                           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 August 31   
           A starfield surrounds a bright nebula. The nebula is somewhat   
        rectangular like a pillow and is mostly white with brown filaments   
      inside and blue shells surrounding. Please see the explanation for more   
                               detailed information.   
      
                       NGC 7027: The Pillow Planetary Nebula   
        Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Delio Tolivia Cadrecha   
      
      Explanation: What created this unusual planetary nebula? Dubbed the   
      Pillow Nebula and the Flying Carpet Nebula, NGC 7027 is one of the   
      smallest, brightest, and most unusually shaped planetary nebulas known.   
      Given its expansion rate, NGC 7027 first started expanding, as visible   
      from Earth, about 600 years ago. For much of its history, the planetary   
      nebula has been expelling shells, as seen in blue in the featured image   
      by the Hubble Space Telescope. In modern times, though, for reasons   
      unknown, it began ejecting gas and dust (seen in brown) in specific   
      directions that created a new pattern that seems to have four corners.   
      What lies at the nebula's center is unknown, with one hypothesis   
      holding it to be a close binary star system where one star sheds gas   
      onto an erratic disk orbiting the other star. NGC 7027, about 3,000   
      light years away, was first discovered in 1878 and can be seen with a   
      standard backyard telescope toward the constellation of the Swan   
      (Cygnus).   
      
                       Tomorrow's picture: smashed moonball   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.   
                     NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;   
                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,   
                              NASA Science Activation   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
   --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7   
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)   
   SEEN-BY: 4/0 19/10 88/0 90/0 93/1 105/81 106/201 128/187 129/14 305   
   SEEN-BY: 134/100 153/135 143 148 151 757 6809 7083 7715 154/110 218/700   
   SEEN-BY: 218/840 221/1 6 360 226/30 227/114 229/110 206 307 317 400   
   SEEN-BY: 229/426 428 470 664 700 705 266/512 291/111 301/1 320/219   
   SEEN-BY: 322/757 335/364 341/66 200 342/200 396/45 460/58 633/280   
   SEEN-BY: 712/848 880/1 900/0 102 106 902/0 19 26 905/0 5019/40 5020/400   
   SEEN-BY: 5075/35   
   PATH: 153/757 221/6 341/66 902/26 229/426