Media Information
 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
NGC 6826: The Blinking Eye
Explanation:
The colorful planetary nebula phase [ http://www.astro.wa…] of a sun-like star's life is brief [ http://oposite.stsc…]. Almost in the "blink of an eye" - cosmically speaking - the star's outer layers are cast off, forming an expanding emission nebula. This nebula lasts perhaps 10 thousand years compared to a 10 billion year stellar life span. Spectacular planetary nebulae [ http://oposite.stsc…] are familiar objects to both professional and amateur astronomers, but they still contain a few surprises. For instance, the lovely nebula NGC 6826 [ http://www.astro.wa…], also known as the Blinking Eye Nebula, has mysterious red FLIERS [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] seen on either side of the Hubble Space Telescope image above. Are they also expanding outward from the central star? If so, their "bow shocks" [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] point in the wrong direction!
Credit and Copyright:
B. Balick [ http://www.astro.wa…], J. Alexander (University of Washington [ http://www.astro.wa…]), et al., NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]
keyword:
planetary nebula
keyword:
star
keyword:
nebula
facet_where:
Washington
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what:
New General Catalogue (NGC)
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap010526

NGC 6826: The Blinking Eye
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