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.

                                2026 March 6
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                         The Astrosphere of HD 61005
    Image Credit: X-ray: [3]NASA / [4]CXC / [5]Johns Hopkins Univ. / C.M.
    Lisse et al.; Infrared: [6]NASA / [7]ESA / [8]STIS; Optical: [9]NSF /
                    [10]NoirLab / [11]CTIO / [12]DECaPS2
     Processing: [13]NASA / [14]CXC / SAO / N. Wolk - Text: [15]Cecilia
            Chirenti ([16]NASA [17]GSFC, [18]UMCP, [19]CRESST II)

   Explanation: Do young stars blow bubbles? The larger view shows a
   stellar field observed with the [20]Cerro Tololo Inter-American
   Observatory in Chile, and the inset highlights [21]HD 61005, a star
   like our [22]Sun, only 120 [23]light-years away. Much [24]younger than
   the Sun, at just about 100 million years old, it blows a fast and dense
   [25]stellar wind that pushes out the cooler dust and gas that
   [26]surrounds it, forming a bubble called an astrosphere. The
   star-blown bubble was [27]detected with the [28]Chandra X-ray
   Observatory, and it has a diameter roughly 200 times the [29]Earth-Sun
   distance. Our Sun has a bubble too, called the [30]heliosphere, which
   [31]protects the planets from [32]cosmic radiation. Also shown in the
   inset is [33]debris left behind from star formation, observed by
   [34]Hubble. The debris appears as [35]wings, giving the star its
   nickname: the [36]Moth.

                        Tomorrow's picture: Saros 133
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    Authors & editors: [48]Robert Nemiroff ([49]MTU) & [50]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([51]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [52]Specific rights apply.
            [53]NASA Web Privacy, [54]Accessibility, [55]Notices;
                A service of: [56]ASD at [57]NASA / [58]GSFC,
                         [59]NASA Science Activation
                           & [60]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/astrosphere_labeled_1024.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://cxc.harvard.edu/
   5. https://www.jhu.edu/
   6. https://www.nasa.gov/
   7. https://www.esa.int/
   8. https://www.stsci.edu/hst/instrumentation/stis
   9. https://www.nsf.gov/
  10. https://noirlab.edu/public/
  11. https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/
  12. https://datalab.noirlab.edu/data/decaps
  13. https://www.nasa.gov/
  14. https://cxc.harvard.edu/
  15. https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/cecilia.bertonimarthahadlerchirenti
  16. https://www.nasa.gov/
  17. https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/
  18. https://www.astro.umd.edu/people/cecilia-chirenti
  19. https://cresst2.umd.edu/
  20. https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/
  21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_61005
  22. https://science.nasa.gov/sun/
  23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX3PIkbTQwQ
  24. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/sun-age/en/
  25. https://esahubble.org/wordbank/stellar-wind/
  26. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_medium
  27. https://chandra.si.edu/press/26_releases/press_022326.html
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/mission/chandra-x-ray-observatory/
  29. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_unit
  30. https://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics/focus-areas/heliosphere/
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120908.html
  32. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/cosmic-radiation-why-we-should-not-be-worried
  33. https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-surveys-debris-strewn-exoplanetary-construction-yards/
  34. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/
  35. https://free-images.com/lg/df34/pelikan_wing_span_water.jpg
  36. https://science.nasa.gov/asset/hubble/hubble-catches-a-dusty-moth/
  37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260305.html
  38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  40. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  41. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  42. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  43. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  44. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  45. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  46. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260306
  47. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260307.html
  48. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  49. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  50. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  51. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  52. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  53. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  54. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  55. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  56. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  57. https://www.nasa.gov/
  58. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  59. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  60. http://www.mtu.edu/