                        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.

                                2025 August 5
   A starfield is shown dominated by a complex nebula shown with many red
   filaments and with a light glow in a region near the center. Please see
               the explanation for more detailed information.

               NGC 6072: A Complex Planetary Nebula from Webb
                  Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JWST

   Explanation: Why is this nebula so complex? The Webb Space Telescope
   has imaged a nebula in great detail that is thought to have emerged
   from a Sun-like star. NGC 6072 has been resolved into one of the more
   unusual and complex examples of planetary nebula. The featured image is
   in infrared light with the red color highlighting cool hydrogen gas.
   Study of previous images of NGC 6072 indicated several likely outflows
   and two disks inside the jumbled gas, while the new Webb image resolves
   new features likely including one disk's edge protruding on the central
   left. A leading origin hypothesis holds that the nebula's complexity is
   caused or enhanced by multiple outbursts from a star in a multi-star
   system near the center.

                      Tomorrow's picture: meteor galaxy
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

