MSGID: 1:153/757.0 3cccc717
TZUTC: -0700
CHRS: LATIN-1 2
                        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.

                               2025 August 31
        A starfield surrounds a bright nebula. The nebula is somewhat
     rectangular like a pillow and is mostly white with brown filaments
   inside and blue shells surrounding. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                    NGC 7027: The Pillow Planetary Nebula
     Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Delio Tolivia Cadrecha

   Explanation: What created this unusual planetary nebula? Dubbed the
   Pillow Nebula and the Flying Carpet Nebula, NGC 7027 is one of the
   smallest, brightest, and most unusually shaped planetary nebulas known.
   Given its expansion rate, NGC 7027 first started expanding, as visible
   from Earth, about 600 years ago. For much of its history, the planetary
   nebula has been expelling shells, as seen in blue in the featured image
   by the Hubble Space Telescope. In modern times, though, for reasons
   unknown, it began ejecting gas and dust (seen in brown) in specific
   directions that created a new pattern that seems to have four corners.
   What lies at the nebula's center is unknown, with one hypothesis
   holding it to be a close binary star system where one star sheds gas
   onto an erratic disk orbiting the other star. NGC 7027, about 3,000
   light years away, was first discovered in 1878 and can be seen with a
   standard backyard telescope toward the constellation of the Swan
   (Cygnus).

                    Tomorrow's picture: smashed moonball
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
 * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
SEEN-BY: 4/0 19/10 88/0 90/0 93/1 105/81 106/201 128/187 129/14 305
SEEN-BY: 134/100 153/135 143 148 151 757 6809 7083 7715 154/110 218/700
SEEN-BY: 218/840 221/1 6 360 226/30 227/114 229/110 206 307 317 400
SEEN-BY: 229/426 428 470 664 700 705 266/512 291/111 301/1 320/219
SEEN-BY: 322/757 335/364 341/66 200 342/200 396/45 460/58 633/280
SEEN-BY: 712/848 880/1 900/0 102 106 902/0 19 26 905/0 5019/40 5020/400
SEEN-BY: 5075/35
PATH: 153/757 221/6 341/66 902/26 229/426