Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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 July 13
     [2]A dark starfield appears around an unusually shaped nebula. The
     nebula has two main lobes on the left and the right and may seem to
        resemble an ant. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                    Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula
     Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]R. Sahai ([6]JPL) et al., Hubble
                                Heritage Team

   Explanation: Why isn't this ant a big sphere? [7]Planetary nebula Mz3
   is being cast off by a star similar to our [8]Sun that is, surely,
   round. Why then would the gas that is [9]streaming away create an
   [10]ant-shaped nebula that is distinctly not round? [11]Clues might
   include the high 1000-kilometer per second speed of the expelled gas,
   the [12]light-year long length of the structure, and the [13]magnetism
   of the star [14]featured here at the nebula's center. One possible
   answer is that [15]Mz3 is hiding a second, dimmer star that [16]orbits
   close in to the bright star. A competing [17]hypothesis holds that the
   central star's own spin and [18]magnetic field are channeling the gas.
   Since the central star [19]appears to be so similar to our own Sun,
   [20]astronomers hope that [21]increased understanding of the history of
   this giant space [22]ant can provide useful insight into the likely
   future of our own [23]Sun and [24]Earth.

              Explore Your Universe: [25]Random APOD Generator
                     Tomorrow's picture: twisted galaxy
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    Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([40]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [41]Specific rights apply.
            [42]NASA Web Privacy, [43]Accessibility, [44]Notices;
                A service of: [45]ASD at [46]NASA / [47]GSFC,
                         [48]NASA Science Activation
                           & [49]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2507/ant_hubble_1072.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.esa.int/
   5. https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Sahai/
   6. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
   7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula
   8. https://science.nasa.gov/sun/
   9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKoB0MHVBvM
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant
  11. https://esahubble.org/news/heic0101/
  12. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/
  13. https://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/Imagnet.html
  14. https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/astro-entomology-ant-like-space-structure-previews-death-of-our-sun/
  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mz_3
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap991219.html
  17. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004AJ....128.1694G/abstract
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap971106.html
  19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mz_3
  20. https://aas.org/careers/career-in-astronomy
  21. https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5hfctHc7i1rrgr1no1_1280.jpg
  22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGJ2jMZ-gaI
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/sun.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100713.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/random_apod.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250712.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  32. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  35. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250713
  36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250714.html
  37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  45. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  46. https://www.nasa.gov/
  47. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  48. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  49. http://www.mtu.edu/