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What it is : Kohoutek 3 - 46 , a planetary nebula .
Where it is:7,200 idle - years remote in the configuration Cygnus .
Kohoutek 3-46 is a planetary nebula captured by the Geminin North telescope.
When it was apportion : July 24 , 2024 .
Why it ’s so special :
dying comes violently for massive mavin . As they cauterize through their fuel and begin to cool , pressing drops andgravitytakes control . A effect collapse can follow , causing a bright supernova blowup .
However , that ’s not how all stars cease their lives . When a smaller asterisk about one to eight times the size of it ofthe sunexhausts its fuel , it expand into a cool carmine elephantine star . finally , it expels its outer level of air . Those layers can glow for chiliad of year in beautiful colouring material and shapes , illuminate by lightness from the principal ’s leftover core , also called a blank dwarf .
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That ’s what ’s happening at Kohoutek 3 - 46 , whose figure resembles a butterfly . It ’s gauge to be about 20,000light - yearsold and is an strange case of what astronomers call aplanetary nebula . The term is deceptive because Kohoutek 3 - 46 has nothing to do with planet . The name , strike by astronomer William Herschel in the 1700s , describes the rasping shape of the physical object ( most are circular ) when viewed through asmall telescope .
Kohoutek 3 - 46 , however , is n’t round but a bipolar hourglass form , which accounts for only about 10 to 20 % of wandering nebulas . It was discover in 1964 by astronomer Luboš Kohoutek , who discovered 300 wandering nebulas throughout his calling .
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This double was captured by the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii , one one-half of the Gemini Observatory ( the other is Gemini South in Chile ’s Atacama Desert ) . The Gemini North scope is supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation ( NSF ) and lock by NSF NOIRLab .
Kohoutek 3 - 46 is currently riding high in the Northern Hemisphere ’s post - sunset night sky . Its constellation , Cygnus , is part of the renowned " Summer Triangle " shape of virtuoso ( here’show to find it in the sky tonight ) . Close by is the constellation Lyra , which hosts thefamous Ring Nebula(also send for M57 ) , a planetary nebula with a more distinctive conformation .
