Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

NGC 3242: The Ghost of Jupiter

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 29, 2005 is “NGC 3242: The Ghost of Jupiter,” an image. It is credited to Credit: Bruce Balick ( U. Washington ) et al., HST , NASA. The original explanation runs about 128 words.

NGC 3242: The Ghost of Jupiter
Credit: Bruce Balick ( U. Washington ) et al., HST , NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“After a star like the Sun completes fusion in its core, it throws off its outer layers in a brief, beautiful cosmic display called a planetary nebula . NGC 3242 is such a planetary nebula, with the stellar remnant white dwarf star visible at the center.”

— APOD editors, October 29, 2005

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
October 29, 2005
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Bruce Balick ( U. Washington ) et al., HST , NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 128 words

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Topics in this entry

The SunJupiterNebulae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: October 29 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.