APOD: 2020 June 7 - Halo of the Cats Eye

Good morning, Rallypoint. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is titled "Halo of the Cats Eye." The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543; also known as Caldwell 6) is a planetary nebula that lies about 3,000 light years from Earth in the northern constellation of Draco. It was discovered by William Herschel on February 15, 1786, and its spectrum first investigated by the English amateur astronomer William Huggins in 1864. Huggins demonstrated that the Cats Eye Nebula is gaseous and not stellar in nature. The extent of the emissions from NGC 6543 (over three light years across) are shown in this image produced by the Nordic Optical Telescope located in the Canary Islands.