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
- 19 March 1892
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ t æ m ə r ə /
- Named after
- Tamar of Georgia
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 122.57 yr (44770 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.75738 AU (412.498 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 1.87764 AU (280.891 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.31751 AU (346.695 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.53 yr (1288.6 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 26.2160 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 16 45.714 / day
- Inclination
- 23.7294°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Tamar of Georgia
- Followed by
- Q151167
- Follows
- 325 Heidelberga
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +93.0
- Orbital period
- +1288.985387764067
Show 4 more facts
- P65
Article
326 Tamara is a large Main belt asteroid. It is classified as a C-type asteroid and is probably composed of carbonaceous material. It is the largest member and namesake of the Tamara Family, a 264 million year-old sub-family of the collisional Phocaea family.
It was discovered by Johann Palisa on 19 March 1892 in Vienna and is named after Tamar of Georgia. Name was given by Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia.