Q138660

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

Y. Väisälä

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

16 February 1936

Pronunciation

/ k ə ˈ r iː l i ə /

Named after

Karelia , (European region)

Alternative designations

1936 DA · 1949 MR

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) background

Observation arc

83.97 yr (30,670 d)

Aphelion

2.9677 AU

Perihelion

2.1278 AU

Semi major axis

2.5478 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.07 yr (1,485 d)

Mean anomaly

228.13 °

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Karelia

Followed by

Q138668

Follows

Q138641

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

+11.079

Orbital period

+1486.783837979229

Image

001391-asteroid shape model (1391) Carelia.png