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
- A. Charlois
- Discovery site
- Nice Obs.
- Discovery date
- 18 September 1893
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ ɜːr sj uː l ə /
- Named after
- unknown
- Alternative designations
- 1893 AL
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Ursula
- Adjectives
- Ursulian / ɜːr ˈ sj uː l i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 124.06 yr (45,314 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.4544 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.7928 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.1236 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.52 yr (2,016 days)
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- 376 Geometria
- Follows
- Q152059
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +216.0
- Orbital period
- +2020.110595909658
- Image
- 375Ursula-LB1.jpg
Show 4 more facts
Article
375 Ursula, provisional designation 1893 AL, is a dark asteroid and parent body of the Ursula family from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It is one of the largest asteroids with a diameter of approximately 200 kilometers. It was discovered on 18 September 1893, by French astronomer Auguste Charlois at Nice Observatory in France. The referent of the asteroids's name is unknown.
Orbit and classification