Planetary nebulae can [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] look simple, round, and planet-like in small telescopes. But images from the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope [
http://hubblesite.o…category.php.cat=hst ] have become well known for showing these fluorescent gas shrouds [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of dying Sun-like stars to possess a staggering variety [
http://hubblesite.o…image_category/nebul a/planetary/ ] of detailed symmetries and shapes [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. This composite color Hubble image of NGC 6751 [
http://hubblesite.o…2000/12/ ] is a beautiful example of a classic planetary nebula with complex features. It was selected in April of 2000, to commemorate the tenth anniversary [
http://hubblesite.o…] of Hubble in orbit. The colors were chosen to represent the relative temperature of the gas - blue, orange, and red indicating the hottest to coolest gas. Winds and radiation from the intensely hot central star [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (140,000 degrees [
http://www.unidata.…blynds/tmp.html ] Celsius [
http://www.astro.uu…]) have apparently created the nebula's streamer-like features. The nebula's [
http://heritage.sts…] actual diameter is approximately 0.8 light-years or about 600 times the size of our solar system. NGC 6751 is 6,500 light-years distant in the high-flying constellation Aquila [
http://www.astro.wi…constellations/Aquil a.html ].
Explanation
Planetary nebulae can [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] look simple, round, and planet-like in small telescopes. But images from the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope [
http://hubblesite.o…category.php.cat=hst ] have become well known for showing these fluorescent gas shrouds [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of dying Sun-like stars to possess a staggering variety [
http://hubblesite.o…image_category/nebul a/planetary/ ] of detailed symmetries and shapes [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. This composite color Hubble image of NGC 6751 [
http://hubblesite.o…2000/12/ ] is a beautiful example of a classic planetary nebula with complex features. It was selected in April of 2000, to commemorate the tenth anniversary [
http://hubblesite.o…] of Hubble in orbit. The colors were chosen to represent the relative temperature of the gas - blue, orange, and red indicating the hottest to coolest gas. Winds and radiation from the intensely hot central star [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (140,000 degrees [
http://www.unidata.…blynds/tmp.html ] Celsius [
http://www.astro.uu…]) have apparently created the nebula's streamer-like features. The nebula's [
http://heritage.sts…] actual diameter is approximately 0.8 light-years or about 600 times the size of our solar system. NGC 6751 is 6,500 light-years distant in the high-flying constellation Aquila [
http://www.astro.wi…constellations/Aquil a.html ].
Explanation
