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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 23   
      
                             Planetary Nebula Abell 7   
                       Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh   
      
      Explanation: Very faint planetary nebula Abell 7 is about 1,800   
      light-years distant. It lies just south of Orion in planet Earth's   
      skies toward the constellation Lepus, The Hare. Posing with scattered   
      Milky Way stars, its generally simple spherical shape about 8   
      light-years in diameter is revealed in this deep telescopic image. The   
      beautiful and complex shapes seen within the cosmic cloud are visually   
      enhanced by the use of long exposures and narrowband filters that   
      capture emission from hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Otherwise Abell 7   
      would be much too faint to be appreciated by eye. A planetary nebula   
      represents a very brief final phase in stellar evolution that our own   
      Sun will experience 5 billion years hence, as the nebula's central,   
      once sun-like star shrugs off its outer layers. Abell 7 itself is   
      estimated to be 20,000 years old. But its central star, seen here as a   
      fading white dwarf, is some 10 billion years old.   
      
                           Tomorrow's picture: Earthset   
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          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
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