265 Anna

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

Johann Palisa

Discovery date

25 February 1887

Pronunciation

/ ˈ æ n ə /

Named after

Anny Weiss

Alternative designations

A887 DA, 1933 QN, 1933 RC

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

115.71 yr (42263 d)

Aphelion

3.06672 AU (458.775 Gm )

Perihelion

1.77398 AU (265.384 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.42035 AU (362.079 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.77 yr (1375.4 d )

Mean anomaly

84.9293 °

Mean motion

0° 15 42.3 / day

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

266 Aline

Follows

264 Libussa

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+22.767

Orbital period

+1376.530261605953

Image

265Anna (Lightcurve Inversion).png