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
- August Kopff
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 22 October 1906
- Named after
- Triberg im Schwarzwald
- Alternative designations
- 1906 WC
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 109.47 yr (39985 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.7084 AU (405.17 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.3342 AU (349.19 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.5213 AU (377.18 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.00 yr (1462.3 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 188.954 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 14 46.284 / day
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Triberg im Schwarzwald
- Followed by
- 620 Drakonia
- Follows
- 618 Elfriede
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +29.051
- Orbital period
- +1461.501742119975
Show 4 more facts
- P61
- August Kopff
- P65
Article
619 Triberga is a main belt asteroid discovered on 22 October 1906 by August Kopff at Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory. Since it has an orbit that repeats itself almost exactly every four years with respect to the position of the Sun and Earth, it has been suggested as a way to calculate the mass of the Moon. Triberga was named for the German town of Triberg.
Since it has an absolute magnitude of 9.9, it is roughly 43 km in diameter. It has an opposition apparent magnitude of 13.5.