Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

NGC 2736: The Pencil Nebula

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 24, 2012 is “NGC 2736: The Pencil Nebula,” an image. It is credited to Image Credit: ESO. The original explanation runs about 152 words.

NGC 2736: The Pencil Nebula
Credit: Image Credit: ESO Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“This shock wave plows through space at over 500,000 kilometers per hour. Moving toward to bottom of this beautifully detailed color composite, the thin, braided filaments are actually long ripples in a sheet of glowing gas seen almost edge on.”

— APOD editors, September 24, 2012

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
September 24, 2012
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit: ESO
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 152 words

All of September 2012 → · 2012 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Nebulae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: September 24 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.