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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2025 April 24

Explanation: Beautiful emission nebula NGC 6164 was created by a rare, hot, luminous star, some 40 times as massive as the Sun. Seen at the center of the cosmic cloud, the star is a mere 3 to 4 million years old. In another three to four million years the massive star will end its life in a . Spanning around 4 light-years, has a bipolar symmetry. That makes it similar in appearance to more common and familiar - the gaseous shrouds dying sun-like stars. Also like many planetary nebulae, NGC 6164 has been found to have an extensive, , revealed in this deep image of the region. Expanding into the surrounding , the material in the halo is likely from an earlier active phase of the O star. is a composite of extensive narrow-band image data, highlighting glowing atomic hydrogen gas in red and oxygen in greenish hues, with broad-band data for the surrounding starfield. Also known as the , NGC 6164 is 4,200 light-years away in the right-angled southern constellation .

Authors & editors: () & ()
NASA Official: Amber Straughn .

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