Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

IC 418: The Spirograph Nebula

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for April 11, 2010 is “IC 418: The Spirograph Nebula,” an image. It is credited to Credit: NASA , ESA , and the Hubble Heritage Team ( STScI / AURA ); Acknowledgement: R. Sahai ( JPL ) et al.. The original explanation runs about 167 words.

IC 418: The Spirograph Nebula
Credit: NASA , ESA , and the Hubble Heritage Team ( STScI / AURA ); Acknowledgement: R. Sahai ( JPL ) et al. Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“What is creating the strange texture of IC 418? Dubbed the Spirograph Nebula for its resemblance to drawings from a cyclical drawing tool , planetary nebula IC 418 shows patterns that are not well understood.”

— APOD editors, April 11, 2010

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
April 11, 2010
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: NASA , ESA , and the Hubble Heritage Team ( STScI / AURA ); Acknowledgement: R. Sahai ( JPL ) et al.
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 167 words

All of April 2010 → · 2010 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Nebulae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: April 11 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.