Astronomy Picture of the

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2022 December 26

NGC 6164: Dragon's Egg Nebula and Halo

Image Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman

Explanation: The star at the center created everything.

Known as the Dragon's Egg, this star -- a rare, hot,
luminous O-type star some 40 times as massive as the
Sun -- created not only the complex nebula (NGC
6164) that immediately surrounds it, but also the
encompassing blue halo. Its name is derived, in part,
from the region's proximity to the picturesque NGC
6188, known as the fighting Dragons of Ara. In another
three to four million years the massive star will likely
end its life in a supernova explosion. Spanning around
4 light-years, the nebula itself has a bipolar symmetry
making it similar in appearance to more common
planetary nebulae - the gaseous shrouds surrounding
dying sun-like stars. Also like many planetary nebulae,
NGC 6164 has been found to have an extensive, faint
halo, revealed in blue in this deep telescopic image of
the region. Expanding into the surrounding interstellar
medium, the material in the blue halo was likely
expelled from an earlier active phase of the O-star.
NGC 6164 lies 4,200 light-years away in the southern
constellation of the Carpenter's Square (Norma).

Tomorrow's picture: all the way around

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