Astronomy Picture of the Day · December 31, 2009

Dust and the Helix Nebula

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 31, 2009 is “Dust and the Helix Nebula,” an image. It is credited to NASA , JPL-Caltech , Kate Su ( Steward Obs. , U. Arizona), et al.. The original explanation runs about 164 words.

From the explanation

“Dust makes this cosmic eye look red. The eerie Spitzer Space Telescope image shows infrared radiation from the well-studied Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) a mere 700 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius .”

— APOD editors, December 31, 2009

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: December 31, 2009
Type: Image
Credit: Credit: NASA , JPL-Caltech , Kate Su ( Steward Obs. , U. Arizona), et al.
Copyright: No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 164 words

All of December 2009 → · 2009 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Nebulae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 31 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, December 31, 2009 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2009-december-31-dust-and-the-helix-nebula

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.