199 Byblis

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 , 1879

Discovery date

9 July 1879

Pronunciation

/ ˈ b ɪ b l ɪ s /

Alternative designations

A879 NA; 1971 WB

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Byblian / ˈ b ɪ b l i ə n /

Observation arc

136.39 yr (49817 d)

Aphelion

3.7367 AU (559.00 Gm )

Perihelion

2.5996 AU (388.89 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.1682 AU (473.96 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.64 yr (2059.7 d )

Mean anomaly

86.623 °

Mean motion

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Byblis

Followed by

200 Dynamene

Follows

Q146513

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+76.129

Orbital period

+2053.564109713196

Image

199Byblis (Lightcurve Inversion).png