An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A nebula resembling a guitar produced by a → neutron star, which is travelling at a speed of 1600 km per sec! The neutron star leaves behind a “wake” in the → interstellar medium, which just happens to look like a guitar (only at this time, and from our point of view in space). The Guitar Nebula is about 6.5 light years away, in the constellation → Cepheus, and occupies about an arc-minute in the sky, corresponding to about 300 years of travel for the neutron star.

See also: Guitar, ultimately from Gk. kithara “cithara,” a stringed musical instrument related to the lyre, perhaps from Pers. sehtar “three-stringed,” from sé “three” + târ, → string. → nebula.