139 Juewa

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

James Craig Watson

Discovery date

10 October 1874

Pronunciation

English: / dʒ u ˈ eɪ w ɑː / joo- AY -wah , Mandarin: [ɻwe ̂ ɪxwa ̌ ]

Alternative designations

A874 TA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

121.07 yr (44222 d)

Aphelion

3.26884 AU (489.012 Gm )

Perihelion

2.29261 AU (342.970 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.78073 AU (415.991 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.64 yr (1693.7 d )

Mean anomaly

60.2817 °

Mean motion

0° 12 45.187 / day

Inclination

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

China

Followed by

140 Siwa

Follows

Q109891

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+151.116

Orbital period

+1698.173680651615