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 date
- 22 October 1879
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ d aɪ d oʊ /
- Named after
- Dido
- Alternative designations
- A879 UC, 1909 AB, 1909 GB, 1912 RB
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Didonian / d aɪ ˈ d oʊ n i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 136.47 yr (49,845 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.331 AU (498.3 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.968 AU (444.1 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 3.150 AU (471.2 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.59 yr (2,040.5 d)
- Average orbital speed
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Dido
- Followed by
- 210 Isabella
- Follows
- 208 Lacrimosa
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +179.008
- Orbital period
- +2042.165856908191
- Image
- 000209-asteroid shape model (209) Dido.png
Show 4 more facts
Article
3D convex shape model of Dido
209 Dido is a main-belt asteroid with a diameter of 179±1 km. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on October 22, 1879, in Clinton, New York. The asteroid was named after the mythical Carthaginian queen Dido. This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 3.15 AU with an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.058 and a period of 5.59 yr. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 7.2° to the plane of the ecliptic.