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Credit & Copyright: Jim Misti
(Misti
Mountain Observatory)
Explanation:
Ghostly in appearance,
Abell 39
is a remarkably simple, spherical nebula about
five light-years across.
Well within our own
Milky
Way galaxy, the cosmic
sphere
is roughly 7,000 light-years distant toward the constellation
Hercules.
Abell 39 is a planetary nebula, formed as a
once sun-like star's outer atmosphere was expelled
over a period of thousands of years.
Still visible, the nebula's central star
is evolving into a hot white dwarf.
Although faint, the nebula's simple geometry has
proven to be
a boon
to
astronomers
exploring the chemical abundances and
life cycles of stars.
In
this deep image
recorded under dark night skies,
very distant
background
galaxies can be found --
some visible right through the nebula itself.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: planetary nebula - stellar evolution - white dwarf - Abell 39
Publications with words: planetary nebula - stellar evolution - white dwarf - Abell 39
See also:
- APOD: 2025 July 13 B Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula
- APOD: 2025 June 9 B Between Scylla and Charybdis: A Double Cosmic Discovery
- APOD: 2025 May 14 B NGC 1360: The Robins Egg Nebula
- APOD: 2025 April 27 B IC 418: The Spirograph Nebula
- APOD: 2025 April 15 B Planetary Nebula NGC 1514 from Webb
- Planetary Nebula Abell 7
- The Medusa Nebula