NGC 7293: The Helix
Nebula
From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
A mere seven hundred
light years from Earth, in the constellation Aquarius,
a sun-like star is dying.
Its last few thousand
years have produced the Helix
Nebula (NGC 7293), a well studied and nearby example of a Planetary
Nebula, typical of this final phase of stellar evolution.
A total of 58 hours of
exposure time have gone in to creating this deep view of the nebula.
Accumulating narrow band
data from emission lines of hydrogen atoms in red and oxygen atoms in
blue-green hues, it shows remarkable details of
the Helix's brighter inner region, about 3 light-years across, but
also follows fainter outer halo features that give the nebula a span
of well over six light-years.
The white dot at the
Helix's center is this Planetary Nebula's hot, central star.
A simple looking nebula
at first glance, the Helix is now understood to have
a surprisingly complex geometry.
