✕
Comet Halley: A periodic comet visible from Earth every 76 years.

Happen Today

Three thousand light-years away, a dying star throws off shells of glowing gas. This image from the Hubble Space Telescope reveals the Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543), to be one of the most complex planetary nebulae known. Spanning half a light-year, the features seen in the Cat's Eye are so complex that astronomers suspect the bright central object may actually be a binary star system. The term planetary nebula, used to describe this general class of objects, is misleading. Although these objects may appear round and planet-like in small telescopes, high resolution images with large telescopes reveal them to be stars surrounded by cocoons of gas blown off in the late stages of stellar evolution. Gazing into this Cat's Eye, astronomers may well be seeing more than detailed structure, they may be seeing the fate of our Sun, destined to enter its own planetary nebula phase of evolution ... in about 5 billion years.

View More

Summary

Nasa APIs

NASA APIs offer developers access to a wide range of space-related data, including astronomy, satellite imagery, and Mars exploration. These interfaces enable the creation of applications and visualizations, fostering innovation in space science and technology. Registration and the use of API keys are typically required for authentication and access to NASA's valuable data resources.

INMAIL SPACE

Receive via mail the pic of the day from the Nasa center