"The Blinking Nebula" or NGC 6826 (Picture of the Day)

The Blinking Nebula

The Blinking nebula is a planetary nebula which is about 2,200 light years away located in the Cygnus constellation. The white dwarf at the center is one of the brightest central stars in a planetary nebula.

One of the distinctive features of this nebula are the two red patches on both sides of the nebula, which is known as the FLIERS or Fast Low-Ionization Emission Regions. These two patches are relatively young and are travelling really quickly, but the cause of the patches are yet to be discovered.

The nebula was named so, because when it is viewed from a small telescope it appears to blink or disappear as the nebula is relatively faint compared to the bright central star.

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