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 October 12
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                                  Mu Cephei
                 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]David Cruz

   Explanation: [5]Mu Cephei is a very large star. An M-class supergiant
   some 1500 times the size of the Sun, it is one of the largest stars
   visible to the unaided eye, and even one of the largest in the entire
   Galaxy. If it replaced the Sun in [6]our fair Solar System, Mu Cephei
   would easily engulf Mars and Jupiter. Historically known as
   [7]Herschel's Garnet Star, Mu Cephei is extremely red. Approximately
   2800 light-years distant, the supergiant is seen near the edge of
   reddish emission nebula [8]IC 1396 toward the royal northern
   constellation Cepheus in [9]this telescopic view. Much cooler and hence
   redder than the Sun, this supergiant's light is further reddened by
   absorption and scattering due to intervening dust within the Milky Way.
   [10]A well-studied variable star understood to be in a late phase of
   stellar evolution, Mu Cephei is a massive star too, [11]destined to
   ultimately explode as a core-collapse [12]supernova.

     APOD editor to speak: [13]in Houghton, Michigan tonight, Thursday,
                             October 12, at 6 pm
                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([28]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [29]Specific rights apply.
              [30]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC,
                         [34]NASA Science Activation
                           & [35]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2310/MuCephei_apod.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.instagram.com/astro.midnight/
   5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_Cephei
   6. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/
   7. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/garnet.html
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120805.html
   9. https://www.instagram.com/p/CyN-h9SoIeO/
  10. https://www.aavso.org/vsots_mucep
  11. https://arxiv.org/abs/1410.8721
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231011.html
  13. https://www.facebook.com/events/3492928810970281
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231011.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=231012
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231013.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  34. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  35. http://www.mtu.edu/