Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2024 January 4
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                           Zeta Oph: Runaway Star
      Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]JPL-Caltech, [5]Spitzer Space Telescope

   Explanation: Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, [6]runaway star
   Zeta Ophiuchi produces the arcing interstellar bow wave or [7]bow shock
   seen in this stunning infrared portrait. In the false-color view,
   bluish Zeta Oph, a star about 20 times more massive than the Sun, lies
   near the center of the frame, moving toward the left at 24 kilometers
   per second. Its strong stellar wind precedes it, compressing and
   heating the dusty [8]interstellar material and shaping the curved shock
   front. What set this star in motion? Zeta Oph was likely once a member
   of a [9]binary star system, its companion star was more massive and
   hence shorter lived. When the companion [10]exploded as a supernova
   catastrophically losing mass, Zeta Oph was flung out of the system.
   About 460 light-years away, [11]Zeta Oph is 65,000 times more luminous
   than [12]the Sun and would be one of the brighter stars in the sky if
   it weren't surrounded by obscuring [13]dust. The image spans about 1.5
   degrees or 12 light-years at the estimated distance of [14]Zeta
   Ophiuchi. In January 2020, NASA placed the [15]Spitzer Space Telescope
   in safe mode, ending its 16 [16]successful years of [17]exploring the
   cosmos.

                  Tomorrow's picture: at the heart of Orion
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    Authors & editors: [29]Robert Nemiroff ([30]MTU) & [31]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([32]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [33]Specific rights apply.
              [34]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [35]ASD at [36]NASA / [37]GSFC,
                         [38]NASA Science Activation
                           & [39]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2401/ZetaOph_spitzer_4015.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
   5. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/main/index.html
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap061124.html
   7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rGz862VPRo
   8. http://espg.sr.unh.edu/ism/what1.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap970219.html
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_II_supernova
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeta_Ophiuchi
  12. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/overview/
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html
  14. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/zetaoph.html
  15. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/main/index.html
  16. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/news/2195-ssc2019-15-Sixteen-Images-for-Spitzer-s-Sweet-16
  17. https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nasas-spitzer-tess-find-potentially-volcano-covered-earth-size-world/
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240103.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  27. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240104
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240105.html
  29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  30. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  31. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  32. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  35. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  38. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  39. http://www.mtu.edu/