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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.   
      
                                  2026 January 19   
      A colorful starfield surrounds a giant nearly-spherical nebula that has   
       texture and stripes like watermelon. The lower right of the nebula is   
          open making it appear like a medulla oblongata -- the stem that   
         connects to a brain. Please see the explanation for more detailed   
                                   information.   
      
                             CTB 1: The Medulla Nebula   
                          Image Credit: Pierre Konzelmann   
      
      Explanation: What powers this unusual nebula? CTB 1 is the expanding   
      gas shell that was left when a massive star toward the constellation of   
      Cassiopeia exploded about 10,000 years ago. The star likely detonated   
      when it ran out of elements, near its core, that could create   
      stabilizing pressure with nuclear fusion. The resulting supernova   
      remnant, nicknamed the Medulla Nebula for its brain-like shape, still   
      glows in visible light because of the heat generated by its collision   
      with confining interstellar gas. Why the nebula also glows in X-ray   
      light, though, remains a topic of research. One hypothesis holds that   
      an energetic pulsar was created and powers the nebula with a fast   
      outwardly moving wind. Following this lead, a pulsar was found in radio   
      waves that appears to have been expelled by the supernova explosion at   
      over 1000 kilometers per second. Although the Medulla Nebula appears as   
      large as a full moon, it is so faint that it took 84-hours of exposure   
      with a small telescope in Texas, USA, to create the featured image.   
      
                         Tomorrow's picture: volcano world   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.   
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                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
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