Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 5, 2001 is “Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula,” an image. It is credited to Credit: R. Sahai ( JPL ) et al. , Hubble Heritage Team , ESA , NASA. The original explanation runs about 154 words.

Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula
Credit: R. Sahai ( JPL ) et al. , Hubble Heritage Team , ESA , NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Why isn’t this ant a big sphere? Planetary nebula Mz3 is being cast off by a star similar to our Sun that is, surely, round.”

— APOD editors, February 5, 2001

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
February 5, 2001
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: R. Sahai ( JPL ) et al. , Hubble Heritage Team , ESA , NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 154 words

All of February 2001 → · 2001 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

The SunNebulae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: February 5 in other years

On Amazon

Popular picks for space fans

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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.