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Picture of the Day
Draconic fratricide
Kfir Simon, taken from Tivoli Farm, Namibia
At a distance of 3,900 light-years in Norma the Square lies NGC 6164/5, also known as the Dragon’s Egg. Astronomers think the binary star at its center, HD 148937, was originally a triple system. The billowing outer shell was caused by stellar winds early in the system’s life; the inner nebulae was created when two of the three stars merged a few thousand years ago, a 2024 study found. The imager used a 24-inch scope to take 5.5 hours of exposures through Hα/OIII/LRGB filters.