Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Cocoon of a New White Dwarf

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 3, 1996 is “Cocoon of a New White Dwarf,” an image. It is credited to Cocoon of a New White Dwarf Credit: H. Bond (STSci), R. Ciardullo (PSU), WFPC2, HST, NASA,. The original explanation runs about 112 words.

Cocoon of a New White Dwarf
Credit: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf Credit: H. Bond (STSci), R. Ciardullo (PSU), WFPC2, HST, NASA, Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Explanation : Like a butterfly , a white dwarf star begins its life by casting off a cocoon that enclosed its former self. In this analogy, however, the Sun would be a caterpillar and the ejected shell of gas would become the prettiest of all!”

— APOD editors, December 3, 1996

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 3, 1996
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf Credit: H. Bond (STSci), R. Ciardullo (PSU), WFPC2, HST, NASA,
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 112 words

All of December 1996 → · 1996 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

The Sun

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 3 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.