NGC 2392 from the Newly Fixed Hubble

Astronomy Picture of the Day · 2000-01-24 · NASA (public domain)

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NGC 2392 from the Newly Fixed Hubble — APOD for 2000-01-24

In 1787, astronomer William Herschel discovered NGC 2392 . From the ground, NGC 2392 resembles a person's head surrounded by a parka hood. In 2000, just after being fixed , the Hubble Space Telescope imaged NGC 2392. From space, the nebula displays gas clouds so complex they are not fully understood. NGC 2392 is clearly a planetary nebula , and the gas seen above composed the outer layers of a Sun-like star only 10,000 years ago. The inner filaments visible above are being ejected by strong wind of particles from the central star. The outer disk contains unusual light-year long orange filaments. NGC 2392 lies about 5000 light-year s away and is visible with a small telescope in the constellation of Gemini .

Astronomy Picture of the Day for 2000-01-24 — image & explanation courtesy of NASA (public domain), mirrored at Tukuk-OS for reading and search convenience.

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