Picture of the Day · NASA
PK 164 +31.1: The Headphone Nebula
2026-05-27
What is a pair of headphones doing in the sky? Today’s image features the Headphone Nebula, also known as PK 164 +31.1 or Jones-Emberson 1. This planetary nebula, the remnant of a dying Sun-like star, faintly occupies an angular region of the Lynx constellation about 1/5th the diameter of the full moon. The red and blue-ish green colors trace hydrogen and oxygen atoms, respectively, that have been excited and ionized by the nebula's central white dwarf. The headphone shape, where two lobes of hydrogen puncture the inner region of oxygen, adds this object to a long list of oddly shaped nebulae. The morphology of such strange nebulae hint at the presence of a stellar or planetary companion, which can stir the material flowing out from the dying star. You can listen to Hubble and JWST sonifications of planetary nebulae through your very own headphones!
via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- C. H. F. Peters
- Discovery site
- Litchfield Obs.
- Discovery date
- 17 February 1873
- Pronunciation
- / ɪ ˈ l ɛ k t r ə /
- Named after
- Electra
- Alternative designations
- A873 DA
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , background
- Adjectives
- Elektrian / ɪ ˈ l ɛ k t r i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 127.53 yr (46,582 d )
- Aphelion
- 3.7808 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.4725 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.1266 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.53 yr (2,019 d)
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Elektra
- Followed by
- Q137874
- Follows
- 129 Antigone
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +180.652
- Mass
- +6.6
- Orbital period
- +2016.780665551091
- Image
- Three’s a crowd (non-annotated) (potw2207b).tif
Show 4 more facts
Article
130 Elektra is a large outer main-belt asteroid and quadruple system with three minor-planet moons. It was discovered on 17 February 1873, by astronomer Christian Peters at Litchfield Observatory, New York, and named after Electra, an avenger in Greek mythology.
Description