Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

NGC 6826: The Blinking Eye

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 26, 2001 is “NGC 6826: The Blinking Eye,” an image. It is credited to Credit: B. Balick , J. Alexander ( University of Washington ), et al., NASA. The original explanation runs about 120 words.

NGC 6826: The Blinking Eye
Credit: B. Balick , J. Alexander ( University of Washington ), et al., NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“The colorful planetary nebula phase of a sun-like star’s life is brief . Almost in the “blink of an eye” – cosmically speaking – the star’s outer layers are cast off, forming an expanding emission nebula.”

— APOD editors, May 26, 2001

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
May 26, 2001
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: B. Balick , J. Alexander ( University of Washington ), et al., NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 120 words

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

Topics in this entry

Nebulae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: May 26 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.