He shoots, he scores! And the Cygnus stadium goes wild! This cosmic goal comes courtesy of Kronberger 61, AKA the Soccer Ball nebula. When in space for months at a time, astronauts keep busy with a kickabout of Kronberger 61 and battle for the top spot in the Galactic Striker’s League. Just kidding - this ball isn’t solid enough to score goals with, and it’s about 13,000 light-years away.

The light from the nebula is primarily due to emissions from doubly ionised oxygen.  Despite all the hours poured into space research by the pros, this football-shaped planetary nebula was first discovered by an amateur astronomer in January, 2011. It’s located in a small area in the Cygnus constellation which is currently being monitored by NASA’s Kepler planet finding mission.