Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

The Red Spider Planetary Nebula

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for January 6, 1998 is “The Red Spider Planetary Nebula,” an image. It is credited to Credit: B. Balick (U. Washington) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA. The original explanation runs about 116 words.

The Red Spider Planetary Nebula
Credit: B. Balick (U. Washington) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Oh what a tangled web a planetary nebula can weave. The Red Spider Planetary Nebula shows the complex structure that can result when a normal star ejects its outer gases and becomes a white dwarf star .”

— APOD editors, January 6, 1998

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
January 6, 1998
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: B. Balick (U. Washington) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 116 words

All of January 1998 → · 1998 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Nebulae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: January 6 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.