Discover the cosmosEach day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Explanation:What causes the swirl in the Shrimp Nebula?
Its high speed is likely.
What is sure is thatSh2-188is one of the largerplanetary nebulason the night sky, byangular size, spanning about half thediameter of the Moon.
Moreover, thewhite-dwarfcore — leftover from the Sun-like star that shed its outer atmosphere — is moving unusually fast through interstellar space, creating abow shockmost visible on the upper left that issimilar toa boat plowingthrough water.
Although faint, the Shrimp Nebulaglows also bycompressingand brightening gas on its leading edge.
Thefeatured imagewas taken in the light ofhydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen by a backyard telescope inKrakow, Polandand then digitally adjusted to approximatethe nebula ‘s true colors.
APOD’s email for image submissions has changed. Please see:APOD SubmissionsAPOD’s main NASA site hasmoved:Fromapod.nasa.govtoscience.nasa.gov/apod Tomorrow’s picture:open space