Media Information
 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
IC 4406: A Seemingly Square Nebula
Explanation:
How can a round star make a square nebula? This conundrum comes to light when studying planetary nebulae [ http://zebu.uoregon…] like IC 4406. Evidence indicates that IC 4406 [ http://www.astro.ps…] is likely a hollow cylinder, with its square appearance the result of our vantage point in viewing the cylinder [ http://www.mathleag…] from the side. Were IC 4406 [ http://heritage.sts…] viewed from the top, it would likely look similar to the Ring Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. This representative-color picture [ http://heritage.sts…] is a composite [ http://heritage.sts…] made by combining images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] last June and this January. Hot gas flows [ http://adsabs.harva…] out the ends of the cylinder, while filaments of dark dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and molecular gas [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] lace the bounding walls. The star primarily responsible for this interstellar sculpture [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] can be found in the planetary nebula [ http://www.noao.edu…]'s center. In a few million years, the only thing left visible in IC 4406 [ http://www.iras.uca…] will be a fading white dwarf star [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Credit and Copyright:
C. R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt U. [ http://www.physics.…]) et al. [ http://heritage.sts…], Hubble Heritage Team [ http://heritage.sts…], NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]
keyword:
planetary nebula
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_what:
LACE
facet_what:
USERS
facet_what:
nebula
facet_what:
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what:
Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS)
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap020618

IC 4406: A Seemingly Square Nebula
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