---
title: "Astronomy  Picture of the Day: 11/30/13 – The Dolphin Nebula"
description: "[caption id=\"attachment_11020\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"717\"] Credit: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum[/caption]   This is SH2-188 - otherwise known as the Dolphin Nebula - a planetary nebula that's located approximately 850 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cassiopeia A.   In the past, SH2-188 was thought to be the remnant of a supernova explosion that appeared in 1965 (it..."
date: "2013-11-30"
modified: "2013-11-30"
authors:
  - name: "Jaime Trosper"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jaimefqtq"
url: "https://futurism.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-112913-the-dolphin-nebula"
categories:
  - "From Quarks to Quasars"
---

# Astronomy  Picture of the Day: 11/30/13 – The Dolphin Nebula

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/60187ec5da46752ba76ccf3e3ed842f91.jpg>)

[![Credit: NASA/JJPL](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/60187ec5da46752ba76ccf3e3ed842f9.jpg>)](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/60187ec5da46752ba76ccf3e3ed842f9.jpg>)
*Credit: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum*

This is SH2-188 - otherwise [known as the Dolphin Nebula](<http://www.space.com/17799-image-day-september-2012.html>) - a planetary nebula that's located approximately 850 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cassiopeia A.

In the past, SH2-188 was thought to be the remnant of a supernova explosion that appeared in 1965 (it took the light 850 years to reach us), but the nebula was later confirmed to be an [asymmetrical planetary nebula](<http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1114a/>) with a crescent-like shape. Most planetary nebulae simply have symmetrical shells that expand outwards, forming something similar to a shell around the dying star.

It's thought that this nebula gets its interesting shape as a result of its travels. At the moment, it is traveling much faster than usual whilst interacting with the interstellar medium. The sun-like star responsible for expelling all of the gases into space thought to be moving at about 125 km/sec, which is almost 280,000 mph! As you can see, there is a bright southeastern arc in this image, which is the bow shock. The northwestern structure is a trailing tail of gases.

## Author
Jaime is a freelance writer, who finds great joy in sharing the wonders of universe with others. She used this passion to launch "From Quarks to Quasars" in 2012.