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. 2023 December 24 [2]A nebula in purple and pink is shown with dust pillars curving around. In the center is a bright orange spot. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]Hubble; Processing: [6]H. Bond ([7]STScI), [8]R. Ciardullo ([9]PSU), [10]Forrest Hamilton (STScI) Explanation: What's that in the center? Like a [11]butterfly, a [12]white dwarf star begins its life by casting off a [13]cocoon of gas that enclosed its former self. In this analogy, however, the [14]Sun would be a [15]caterpillar and the ejected shell of gas would become the [16]prettiest cocoon of all. In the [17]featured cocoon, the [18]planetary nebula designated [19]NGC 2440 contains one of the [20]hottest white dwarf stars known. The [21]white dwarf can be seen as the bright orange dot near the image center. Our [22]Sun will eventually become a [23]white dwarf butterfly, but not for [24]another 5 billion years. Tomorrow's picture: mansion mountain moon __________________________________________________________________ [25]< | [26]Archive | [27]Submissions | [28]Index | [29]Search | [30]Calendar | [31]RSS | [32]Education | [33]About APOD | [34]Discuss | [35]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [36]Robert Nemiroff ([37]MTU) & [38]Jerry Bonnell ([39]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [40]Specific rights apply. [41]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [42]ASD at [43]NASA / [44]GSFC, [45]NASA Science Activation & [46]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2312/ngc2440e_hst_960.jpg 3. https://nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.esa.int/ 5. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/ 6. https://www.stsci.edu/~bond/ 7. https://www.stsci.edu/ 8. https://ctoc.igc.psu.edu/faculty-profile-robin-ciardullo/ 9. https://ctoc.igc.psu.edu/ 10. https://annex.exploratorium.edu/origins/hubble/live/4-21.html 11. https://youtu.be/lWOySU_hAz0 12. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/dwarfs2.html 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupa#Cocoon 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231211.html 15. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/05/are-caterpillars-insects/ 16. https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NY-CE236_DOG_DV_20130211182422.jpg 17. https://esahubble.org/images/opo9935e/ 18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070215.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap951130.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000910.html 22. https://science.nasa.gov/sun/ 23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_dwarf 24. https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2022/08/The_Sun_s_future 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231223.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 31. https://apod.com/feed.rss 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 34. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=23124 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231225.html 36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 38. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 39. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 40. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 41. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 42. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 43. https://www.nasa.gov/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 45. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 46. http://www.mtu.edu/