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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 September 8   
        A starfield surrounds a nebula with a vertical brown bar across its   
      center. Gas and dust fan out from the bar making the nebula appear like   
        a colorful butterfly. Please see the explanation for more detailed   
                                   information.   
      
                    IRAS 04302: Butterfly Disk Planet Formation   
        Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Webb; Processing: M. Villenave et al.   
      
      Explanation: This butterfly can hatch planets. The nebula fanning out   
      from the star IRAS 04302+2247 may look like the wings of a butterfly,   
      while the vertical brown stripe down the center may look like the   
      butterfly's body -- but together they indicate an active planet-forming   
      system. The featured picture was captured recently in infrared light by   
      the Webb Space Telescope. Pictured, the vertical disk is thick with the   
      gas and dust from which planets form. The disk shades visible and   
      (most) infrared light from the central star, allowing a good view of   
      the surrounding dust that reflects out light. In the next few million   
      years, the dust disk will likely fragment into rings through the   
      gravity of newly hatched planets. And a billion years from now, the   
      remaining gas and dust will likely dissipate, leaving mainly the   
      planets -- like in our Solar System.   
      
                    Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator   
                         Tomorrow's picture: up from Earth   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
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