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
- Viktor Knorre
- Discovery date
- 7 April 1880
- Pronunciation
- / iː ˈ n oʊ n iː /
- Named after
- Oenōnē
- Alternative designations
- A880 GA
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 110.31 yr (40,289 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.87 AU (428.78 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.67 AU (398.77 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.77 AU (413.78 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.60 yr (1,680.2 d)
- Average orbital speed
- 17.91 km/s
- Mean anomaly
- 90.9597 °
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Oenone
- Followed by
- Q147891
- Follows
- 214 Aschera
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- +35.21
- Orbital period
- +1681.937000195669
Show 4 more facts
- P65
Article
215 Oenone is a typical main belt asteroid. It was discovered by the Russian astronomer Viktor Knorre on April 7, 1880, in Germany, and was the second of his four asteroid discoveries. The asteroid is named after Oenone, a nymph in Greek mythology.
This body is orbiting the Sun with a period of 4.60 years and a low ellipticity (ovalness) of 0.036. The orbital plane is inclined by 1.7° to the plane of the ecliptic. Light curve data gives a synodic rotation period of 27.93±0.01 h, during which it varies in brightness with an amplitude of 0.18±0.02 magnitudes. The cross-section diameter is 36 km. It is classified as an S-type asteroid in the Tholen taxonomy, suggesting a siliceous (stony) composition.