APOD: 2022 August 3 - Halo of the Cats Eye

Good morning, Rallypoint, and welcome to the August 3rd Hump Day edition of Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD): "Halo of the Cat's Eye." A regular feature for the past two decades, the Cat's Eye Nebula (aka NGC 6543) lies in the northern constellation of Draco, and was discovered by William Herschel on February 15, 1786. Available data suggest the Cat's Eye is between 3300-5300 light years from Earth.

I don't have an Instagram account, so I don't know if the astrophotographer has published any notes on today's APOD. Looking at available online images with notes, I'm guessing that we are looking at a colorized optical (e.g. visible light) representation of NGC 6543 that highlights the filaments of ionized nitrogen (red) and oxygen (green/blue) in the outer halo of the Cat's Eye. Research points to a binary star system as the source of the emissions coming from the center of the nebula.