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                        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.

                                2021 April 20
    [2]A picture of the Ant Nebula from the Hubble Space Telescope Please
             see the explanation for more detailed information.

                    Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula
     Image Credit: [3]R. Sahai ([4]JPL) et al., [5]Hubble Heritage Team,
                               [6]ESA, [7]NASA

   Explanation: Why isn't this ant a big sphere? [8]Planetary nebula Mz3
   is being cast off by a star similar to our [9]Sun that is, surely,
   round. Why then would the gas that is [10]streaming away create an
   [11]ant-shaped nebula that is distinctly not round? [12]Clues might
   include the high 1000-kilometer per second speed of the expelled gas,
   the [13]light-year long length of the structure, and the [14]magnetism
   of the star [15]featured here at the nebula's center. One possible
   answer is that [16]Mz3 is hiding a second, dimmer star that [17]orbits
   close in to the bright star. A competing [18]hypothesis holds that the
   central star's own spin and [19]magnetic field are channeling the gas.
   Since the central star [20]appears to be so similar to our own Sun,
   [21]astronomers hope that [22]increased understanding of the history of
   this giant space [23]ant can provide useful insight into the likely
   future of our own [24]Sun and [25]Earth.

                Tomorrow's picture: black hole destroys star
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    Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([40]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [41]Specific rights apply.
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                A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC
                           & [46]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2104/ant_hubble_1072.jpg
   3. https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Sahai/
   4. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
   5. https://hubblesite.org/resource-gallery/learning-resources/hubble-heritage
   6. https://www.esa.int/
   7. https://www.nasa.gov/
   8. http://www.noao.edu/jacoby/pn_gallery.html
   9. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/overview/
  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKoB0MHVBvM
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant
  12. https://esahubble.org/news/heic0101/
  13. https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html
  14. https://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/Imagnet.html
  15. https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2001/news-2001-05.html
  16. http://heritage.stsci.edu/2001/05/caption.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap991219.html
  18. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004AJ....128.1694G/abstract
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap971106.html
  20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mz_3
  21. https://aas.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/Careers-in-Astronomy.pdf
  22. https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5hfctHc7i1rrgr1no1_1280.jpg
  23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGJ2jMZ-gaI
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/sun.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100713.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210424.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  35. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210425
  36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210426.html
  37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/
  45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  46. http://www.mtu.edu/