The Hubble Double Bubble Planetary Nebula is bubbling over with excitement. More mundanely known as Hubble 5 [ http://www.astro.wa…], this bipolar planetary nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is being created by a hot wind [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of particles streaming away from the central star system. The hot gas expands into the surrounding interstellar medium [ http://pegasus.phas…] in a fashion similar to the inflation of hot air balloons [ http://www-vrl.umic…]. A supersonic shock-wave [ http://inuit.phys.u…] can form at the boundary, causing newly excited gas there to shine as electrons [ http://pburton.maps…] recombine with resident elements [ http://CST.lanl.gov…]. In the above picture [ http://www.astro.wa…], colors are assigned according to the energy of the recombinant radiation. This star system lies about 2200 light-years from Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], and likely includes a Sun-like star slowly transforming itself into a white dwarf [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Explanation
The Hubble Double Bubble Planetary Nebula is bubbling over with excitement. More mundanely known as Hubble 5 [ http://www.astro.wa…], this bipolar planetary nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is being created by a hot wind [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of particles streaming away from the central star system. The hot gas expands into the surrounding interstellar medium [ http://pegasus.phas…] in a fashion similar to the inflation of hot air balloons [ http://www-vrl.umic…]. A supersonic shock-wave [ http://inuit.phys.u…] can form at the boundary, causing newly excited gas there to shine as electrons [ http://pburton.maps…] recombine with resident elements [ http://CST.lanl.gov…]. In the above picture [ http://www.astro.wa…], colors are assigned according to the energy of the recombinant radiation. This star system lies about 2200 light-years from Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], and likely includes a Sun-like star slowly transforming itself into a white dwarf [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Explanation
Credit and Copyright:
B. Balick (U. Washington) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA
Credit_and_Copyright
B. Balick (U. Washington) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA
