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Credit & Copyright: Deep Sky Collective
Explanation:
The star system GK Per is known to be associated
with only two of the three nebulas
pictured.
At 1500
light years distant,
Nova Persei 1901
(GK Persei)
was the second closest
nova yet recorded.
At the very center is a
white dwarf star, the surviving core of a former Sun-like star.
It is surrounded by the circular
Firework nebula, gas that was ejected by a
thermonuclear explosion
on the white dwarf's surface -- a nova -- as
recorded in 1901.
The red glowing gas surrounding the Firework nebula
is the atmosphere that used to surround the central star.
This gas was expelled before the
nova and appears as a diffuse
planetary nebula.
The faint gray gas running across is
interstellar cirrus that seems to be
just passing through
coincidently.
In 1901, GK Per's nova
became brighter than
Betelgeuse.
Similarly, star system
T CrB is expected to
erupt in a nova later this year,
but we don't know exactly when nor
how bright it will become.
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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: nova - planetary nebula
Publications with words: nova - planetary nebula
See also:
- APOD: 2026 January 5 Á The Red Rectangle Nebula from Hubble
- APOD: 2025 August 31 Á NGC 7027: The Pillow Planetary Nebula
- APOD: 2025 August 22 Á A Tale of Two Nebulae
- APOD: 2025 August 5 Á NGC 6072: A Complex Planetary Nebula from Webb
- APOD: 2025 July 29 Á A Helix Nebula Deep Field
- APOD: 2025 July 13 Á Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula
- APOD: 2025 July 3 Á Nova V462 Lupi Now Visible