July 23, 2005
Even the most precise clock in the world cannot measure how unlikely your existence really is.
Ringed Nebulae
Birthday · July 23, 2005
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published July 23, 2005. Credit: Tony and Daphne Hallas. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
This gorgeous celestial vista is centered on one of the Milky Way's own planetary nebulae, M57, the famous Ring Nebula. The wide view is a composite of three exposures; one to record the details of the inner roughly one light-year span of the familiar nebula, one to record the surprisingly intricate but faint outer rings of glowing hydrogen gas, and one to pick up the rich assortment of distant background galaxies. By chance, one of the background galaxies, IC 1296 at the upper left, is close enough to show its barred, spiral structure making an attractive visual comparison with M57. Interestingly, though IC 1296 is 200 million light-years away compared to only 2 thousand light-years for M57, a faint ring is also apparent around the outer reaches of the distant spiral galaxy.
Image credit: Tony and Daphne Hallas