﻿ 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 March 29 [2]A star field is shown with ragged red clouds on the far left and a thin blue cloud with the outline similar to the head of a dolphin to the right. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Sh2-308: A Dolphin Shaped Star Bubble Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Aleix Roig ([4]AstroCatInfo) Explanation: Which star created this bubble? It [5]wasn't the bright star on the bubble's right. And it also wasn't a giant space [6]dolphin. It was the star in the blue nebula's center, a famously energetic [7]Wolf-Rayet star. [8]Wolf-Rayet stars in general have over 20 times the mass of [9]our Sun and expel fast [10]particle winds that can create [11]iconic [12]looking [13]nebulas. In this case, the resulting star bubble spans over 60 light years, is about 70,000 years old, and happens to look like the head of a dolphin. Named [14]Sh2-308 and dubbed the [15]Dolphin-Head Nebula, the gas ball lies about 5,000 [16]light years away and covers as much sky as the [17]full moon -- although it is much dimmer. The nearby red-tinged clouds on the left of the [18]featured [19]image may owe their glow and shape to energetic light emitted from the same [20]Wolf-Rayet star. Tomorrow's picture: celestial thingy __________________________________________________________________ [21]< | [22]Archive | [23]Submissions | [24]Index | [25]Search | [26]Calendar | [27]RSS | [28]Education | [29]About APOD | [30]Discuss | [31]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [32]Robert Nemiroff ([33]MTU) & [34]Jerry Bonnell ([35]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [36]Specific rights apply. [37]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [38]ASD at [39]NASA / [40]GSFC, [41]NASA Science Activation & [42]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2303/DolphinReef_Roig_5688.jpg 3. https://astrocat.info/about/ 4. https://www.instagram.com/astrocatinfo/ 5. https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:2400/1*Bp1dNLfyDjH2QCgALi-BrQ.jpeg 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin#/media/File:Dolphin_Encounter-9563.jpg 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf–Rayet_star 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230318.html 9. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/by-the-numbers/ 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000318.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230208.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221220.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210617.html 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh2-308 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211021.html 16. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/ 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200322.html 18. https://astrocat.info/sharpless-308-the-dolphin-nebula/ 19. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cob4zhMsoxh/ 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200308.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230328.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 30. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230329 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230330.html 32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 34. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 35. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 37. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 38. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 41. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 42. http://www.mtu.edu/