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.

                                2021 April 25

                    Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula
    Image Credit: R. Sahai (JPL) et al., Hubble Heritage Team, ESA, NASA

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

                Tomorrow's picture: black hole destroys star
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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