A mere seven hundred light years from Earth, in the constellation Aquarius [
http://hawastsoc.or…], a sun-like star is dying. Its last few thousand years have produced the Helix Nebula [
http://www.seds.org…] (NGC 7293), a well studied and nearby example of a Planetary Nebula [
http://en.wikipedia…], typical of this final phase of stellar evolution. Nearly 11 hours [
http://www.astronom…n7293-halrgb_50f3.ht m ] of exposure time have gone in to creating this remarkably deep view of the nebula. It shows details of the Helix's brighter inner region [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], about 3 light-years across, but also follows fainter outer halo [
http://www.ing.iac.…] 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 [
http://hubblesite.o…38/astrofile/ ]. A simple looking nebula at first glance, the Helix is now understood to have a surprisingly complex geometry [
http://hubblesite.o…32/image/e/ ].
Explanation
A mere seven hundred light years from Earth, in the constellation Aquarius [
http://hawastsoc.or…], a sun-like star is dying. Its last few thousand years have produced the Helix Nebula [
http://www.seds.org…] (NGC 7293), a well studied and nearby example of a Planetary Nebula [
http://en.wikipedia…], typical of this final phase of stellar evolution. Nearly 11 hours [
http://www.astronom…n7293-halrgb_50f3.ht m ] of exposure time have gone in to creating this remarkably deep view of the nebula. It shows details of the Helix's brighter inner region [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], about 3 light-years across, but also follows fainter outer halo [
http://www.ing.iac.…] 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 [
http://hubblesite.o…38/astrofile/ ]. A simple looking nebula at first glance, the Helix is now understood to have a surprisingly complex geometry [
http://hubblesite.o…32/image/e/ ].
Explanation
