The Extraordinary Spiral in LL Pegasi

Discover the universe! Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by an astronomer.

November 29
The featured image shows a spiral structure.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured a picture of the system.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

The Spiral in LL Pegasi is extraordinary.
Jonathan Lodge has the rights to the image.

The strange spiral structure on the upper left was created by something. No one is sure if it is related to a star in a system entering the planetary nebula phase, when its outer atmosphere is ejected. The huge spiral spans about a third of a light year across and, winding four or five complete turns, has a regularity that is without precedent. The time it takes for the two stars to travel to each other is close to the time it takes for a new layer to appear. The star system that created it is known as LL Pegasi. The image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The mystery of why the spiral glows is a mystery with a leading hypothesis being illumination by light reflected from nearby stars.

Tomorrow's picture is planet with moons.

Robert Nemiroff is an author and Jerry Bonnell is an editor.
Phillip Newman has specific rights.
NASA has a privacy policy on the internet.
There is a service at NASA.
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Discover the universe! Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by an astronomer.

November 30 of 2021.

In Motion: the planets.
David Campbell is from the U. Hertfordshire.

What is that moving across the sky? A planet that is too small to see with the naked eye. The gas giant was tracked near opposition when it was closest to Earth. The Bayfordbury Observatory.jpg) captured a four-hour time-lapse showing the four largest moons of the planet, including Titania, Oberon, and Umbriel. The apparent motion past background stars is dominated by Earth's own motion around the Sun. The cross is caused by light diffracting/guides/mtr/opt/mch/diff.rxml around the four arms that hold one of the telescope's mirrors. The rotation of the Earth causes the rotation of the diffraction spikes. During the next few months, it will be possible to see the planet with binoculars, but you will need a telescope to see its moons.

The blood moon band is tomorrow's picture.

Robert Nemiroff is an author and Jerry Bonnell is an editor.
Phillip Newman has specific rights.
NASA has a privacy policy on the internet.
There is a service at NASA.
& Michigan Tech. U.