2024 April 30 - GK Per: Nova and Planetary Nebula

In today's image, we see GK Per which was seen to explode as a nova back in 1901. A nova occurs when material builds up on the surface of a white dwarf star and becomes sufficient for thermonuclear reactions to ignite on the surface, temporarily brightening the star.

This YouTube channel is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240430.html.

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