                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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 17
   A gaseous structure that resembles a hamster wheel sits near the center
    of the image. Inside is a bright white dwarf star. There is a larger
    asymmetric gas bubble surrounding the inner nebula. A galaxy sits to
       the bottom right. The background is composed of foreground and
               background stars, as well as distant galaxies.

                    Longmore 8: The Hamster Wheel Nebula
      Image Credit & Copyright: Mazlin, Parker, Forman, Magill, Hanson
         Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

   Explanation: How did a hamster wheel get into space? The Hamster Wheel
   Nebula (Longmore 8) was discovered by Andrew Longmore in 1976 as a part
   of a larger survey of the southern sky. This survey employed several
   improvements in photographic technology, including the use of highly
   sensitive film, to capture deeper and fainter objects on plates that
   were examined by eye and catalogued. The featured image, taken at
   Observatorio El Sauce in Chile, depicts an intricate wheel structure of
   glowing hydrogen that was thrown out into space by a dying star and
   ionized by the leftover white dwarf. This structure was barely visible
   on the original plate, emphasizing the power of modern telescopes and
   cameras. Two opposing clumps of red hydrogen gas encased in the blue
   veil of ionized oxygen hint at the presence of a companion to the
   bright white dwarf at the wheel’s center!

                  Tomorrow's picture: a supernova remnant?
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

