Astronomy Picture of the Day
    


Messier 76
<< Yesterday 1.11.2006 Tomorrow >>
Messier 76
Credit & Copyright: Stefan Seip
Explanation: "Nebula at the right foot of Andromeda ... " begins the description for the 76th object in Charles Messier's 18th century Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters. In fact, M76 is one of the fainter objects on the Messier list and is also known by the popular name of the "Little Dumbbell Nebula". Like its brighter namesake M27 (the Dumbbell Nebula), M76 is recognized as a planetary nebula - a gaseous shroud cast off by a dying sunlike star. The nebula itself is thought to be shaped more like a donut, while its box-like appearance is due to our nearly edge-on view. Gas expanding more rapidly away from the donut hole produces the faint loops of far flung material. The nebula's dying star can be picked out in this sharp color image as the bottom, blue-tinted member of the double star near the center of the box-like shape. Distance estimates place M76 about 3 to 5 thousand light-years away, making the nebula over a light-year in diameter.

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
 < November 2006  >
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su


12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930


Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day

Publications with keywords: M 76 - planetary nebula
Publications with words: M 76 - planetary nebula
See also:
All publications on this topic >>