Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Medusa Nebula

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-11-22 19:46:05 | Updated at 2024-11-23 00:36:16 4 hours ago

Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Medusa Nebula
NASA ^ | 22 Nov, 2024 | Image Credit & Copyright: Bruno Rota Sargi

Posted on 11/22/2024 11:45:21 AM PST by MtnClimber

Explanation: Braided and serpentine filaments of glowing gas suggest this nebula's popular name, The Medusa Nebula. Also known as Abell 21, this Medusa is an old planetary nebula some 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Gemini. Like its mythological namesake, the nebula is associated with a dramatic transformation. The planetary nebula phase represents a final stage in the evolution of low mass stars like the sun as they transform themselves from red giants to hot white dwarf stars and in the process shrug off their outer layers. Ultraviolet radiation from the hot star powers the nebular glow. The Medusa's transforming star is the faint one near the center of the overall bright crescent shape. In this deep telescopic view, fainter filaments clearly extend below and to the left. The Medusa Nebula is estimated to be over 4 light-years across.

TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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1 posted on 11/22/2024 11:45:21 AM PST by MtnClimber

To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 11/22/2024 11:45:38 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)

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