Astronomy Picture of the Day · January 4, 1997

A Star Where Photons Orbit

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for January 4, 1997 is “A Star Where Photons Orbit,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Credit and Copyright: Robert Nemiroff (MTU)). The original explanation runs about 133 words.

From the explanation

“Explanation : The above computer animated picture depicts how a very compact star would look to a nearby observer. The star pictured is actually more compact that any known except a black hole , so it is only hypothetical.”

— APOD editors, January 4, 1997

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: January 4, 1997
Type: Image
Credit: Credit and Copyright: Robert Nemiroff (MTU)
Copyright: Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 133 words

All of January 1997 → · 1997 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Black holes

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: January 4 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, January 4, 1997 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-1997-january-04-a-star-where-photons-orbit

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.