Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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. 2026 June 11 [2]A delicate nebula in shades of blue and purple shines in front of a dark field of stars. The shape of the nebula resembles a mermaid. The Mermaid Nebula Supernova Remnant Image Credit & Copyright: Data acquisition: Sy Ming Wong; Processing: [3]Guangyan Gao Text: [4]Cecilia Chirenti ([5]NASA [6]GSFC, [7]UMCP, [8]CRESST II) Explanation: Could the [9]Little Mermaid turn into stardust instead of seafoam? It would seem so in this beautiful [10]nebula. The [11]featured image shows the [12]Mermaid Nebula, also known as the Betta Fish Nebula, which is part of the G296.5+10.0 [13]Supernova Remnant. The blue color visible here originates from [14]doubly ionized oxygen (OIII), while the deep red is emitted by [15]hydrogen gas. [16]Estimated to be located a few thousand light-years away and about 10,000 years old, this nebula was formed when a massive star [17]exploded as a supernova. It left behind a [18]peculiar [19]pulsar, a young radio-quiet neutron star that spins around about [20]twice every second. The bright stars shown in the image are unassociated with the nebula. The pulsar can be detected in the [21]X-rays but it [22]does not have a confirmed detection in the optical ([23]visible light) so far. As a result, the pulsar itself is not visible in this image. Tomorrow's picture: what's next? __________________________________________________________________ [24]< | [25]Archive | [26]Submissions | [27]Index | [28]Search | [29]Calendar | [30]RSS | [31]Education | [32]About APOD | [33]Discuss | [34]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [35]Robert Nemiroff ([36]MTU) & [37]Jerry Bonnell ([38]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [39]Specific rights apply. [40]NASA Web Privacy, [41]Accessibility, [42]Notices; A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC, [46]NASA Science Activation & [47]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2606/Mermaid.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/astrosymmetry/ 4. https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/cecilia.chirenti 5. https://www.nasa.gov/ 6. https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/ 7. https://www.astro.umd.edu/people/cecilia-chirenti 8. https://cresst2.umd.edu/ 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Mermaid 10. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/stories/quick-reads/decoding-nebulae/ 11. http://app.astrobin.com/i/ve35wq 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240918.html 13. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/supernova_remnants.html 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubly_ionized_oxygen 15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen-alpha 16. https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/528/2/2095/7511133 17. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20413/ 18. https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1743046678527-b9d3f7db5eae 19. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/science-behind-the-discoveries/hubble-pulsars/ 20. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/340640/pdf 21. https://chandra.harvard.edu/field_guide.html 22. https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2011/01/aa14982-10.pdf 23. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight/ 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260610.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 30. https://apod.com/feed.rss 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 33. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260611 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260612.html 35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 37. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 38. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 40. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 41. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/ 45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 46. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 47. http://www.mtu.edu/