Starship Asterisk*

Bright Planetary Nebula NGC 7027 from Hubble

Explanation: It is one of the brightest planetary nebulae on the sky -- what should it be named? First discovered in 1878, nebula NGC 7027 can be seen toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus) with a standard backyard telescope. Partly because it appears there as only an indistinct spot, it is rarely referred to with a moniker. When imaged with the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, however, great details are revealed. Studying Hubble images of NGC 7027 have led to the understanding that it is a planetary nebula that began expanding about 600 years ago, and that the cloud of gas and dust is unusually massive as it appears to contain about three times the mass of our Sun. Pictured above in assigned colors, the resolved, layered, and dust-laced features of NGC 7027 might remind sky enthusiasts of a familiar icon that could be the basis for an informal name. Please feel free to make suggestions -- some suggestions are being recorded, for example, in an online APOD discussion forum.

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detergent pouch

Looks like a pillow to me.

Iceberg nebula ?

Cake Nebula

cotton candy nebula

The pillowcase nebula. Or maybe the Kodak Brownie nebula.

Flying Squirrel

The Pumice Nebula

The Polar Bear Rug

Flying Squirrel Nebula!

The pillow nebula!

Marshmallow Nebula

My first thought was a dirty marshmallow. So how about the DM Nebula?

:EDIT: I see i got beat by about 30 seconds.

Ice cream nebula would be both descriptive and memorable
Well I agree marshmallow is also good in this respect

Janus. It looks like two profiles facing apart.

The ghost manta ray nebula

definitely +1 Flying Squirrel Nebula. first thing i saw before i even read the caption.

The kite

Awesome!!!! The StarFish Nebula!!!!! look at it again....Five Legs...off from a large center....a Starfish....appropriate too.

In a few thousand years, or tens it should be nice and translucent....

This still looks like it is exploding, and it is not a smooth process...amazing.

:---[===] *

The first thing that came to my mind when I viewed this planetary nebula was sheep's wool, so I think it should be called, "The Sheep's Wool Nebula" or Sheep Nebula.

Popcorn nebula - that's that.

I think "ROC" is a suitabale name. Name of a big bird (i.e 30-morgh) in iranian legends.

Looks like a Pillow&Scroll to me.

Hobbs'War

cocoon nebula -- looks like an insect cocoon -- although this name may already be applied to other objects