In today's image, we see what is known as the Pillow Planetary Nebula. This type of nebula forms when a star like our Sun reaches the end of its life and sheds its outer layers. The complexity of the Pillow Planetary Nebula is suspected to be caused by a bakery system at its center rather than a single star.

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This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.

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