No, this image is not one of the Mayan apocalypse. NASA has a
tradition of releasing spectacular Hubble images in time for the winter
holidays, such as a 2011 photo of a space “snow angel,” and 2012 was no different.
This year, NASA published
a breathtaking photo of a planetary nebula called NGC-5189, located
some 3,000 light years away in the constellation Musca (the fly).
Nebulas like the one shown here are formed by dying stars — ones like
our own Sun except that have run out of fuel and are ejecting their
outer layers, which become superheated by the remaining stellar material
and billow outward as clouds of gas, turning into beautiful patterns
and shapes. The nebula pictured, NGC-5189, is said to resemble a
“glass-blown ornament,” according to NASA, hence it being featured as
this year’s holiday favorite.
Because I am an Old and to support the Post Office, I send out actual holiday cards on paper, with stamps and everything. NASA needs to start a line of holiday cards with Hubble photos on them, and the explanation of the image on the inside. All of us who remember the Apollo missions would snatch them up.
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