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
- P. Melotte
- Discovery site
- Greenwich
- Discovery date
- 16 January 1909
- Pronunciation
- / m ɪ ˈ l ɪ t ə /
- Alternative designations
- 1909 FN
- Observation arc
- 107.22 yr (39162 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.4406 AU (514.71 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.6948 AU (403.14 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 3.0677 AU (458.92 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.37 yr (1962.6 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 210.814 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 11 0.348 / day
- Inclination
- 12.854°
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q156423
- Follows
- 675 Ludmilla
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +78.369
- Orbital period
- +1962.023286616594
Show 4 more facts
Article
676 Melitta is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It is classified as a main belt asteroid. The name, Melitta, is the Attic Greek form of the name Melissa—a reference both to the nymph of ancient Greek mythology, and to the minor planet's discoverer, Melotte.
References