Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

MyCn18: An Hourglass Nebula

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for June 15, 2002 is “MyCn18: An Hourglass Nebula,” an image. It is credited to Credit: R. Sahai and J. Trauger ( JPL ), WFPC2 , HST , NASA. The original explanation runs about 130 words.

MyCn18: An Hourglass Nebula
Credit: R. Sahai and J. Trauger ( JPL ), WFPC2 , HST , NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“The sands of time are running out for the central star of this hourglass-shaped planetary nebula . With its nuclear fuel exhausted, this brief, spectacular, closing phase of a Sun-like star’s life occurs as its outer layers are ejected – its core becoming a cooling, fading white dwarf .”

— APOD editors, June 15, 2002

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
June 15, 2002
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: R. Sahai and J. Trauger ( JPL ), WFPC2 , HST , NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 130 words

All of June 2002 → · 2002 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: June 15 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.