Beautiful Helix Nebula
August 29th 2007 10:45
This infrared image taken from the NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Helix Nebula (also known as NGC 7293)
, a must see for amateur astronomers for its vivid colours and eerie resemblance to a giant eye. A breading ground for comets forming and colliding inside the Helix Nebula.
This magnificent photograph taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope shows a bizarre false colour view of the Helix Nebula. Located around 700 light years from Earth, in the constellation of Aquarius, this stunning nebula was once a star similar to our own Sun. When the star used up all its fuel and died, it hurled off its outer layers, creating the view we see today.
It's a beautiful and haunting photo, with some important science behind it. The dusty dead star at the heart is all that remains, but amazingly, it's surrounded by a dusty disc of icy material. Where's all this dust coming from? Astronomers believe the death of the star has churned up the region of comets surrounding the star and we are seeing their collisions.
The colourful clouds will fade ( not in our life time), and all we'll see is a tiny white dwarf ember slowly cooling to the ambient temperature of the Universe. This is the same fate that our Sun will also share in about 4 billion years from now.
Source: Spitzer Space Telescope
Helix Nebula
This magnificent photograph taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope shows a bizarre false colour view of the Helix Nebula. Located around 700 light years from Earth, in the constellation of Aquarius, this stunning nebula was once a star similar to our own Sun. When the star used up all its fuel and died, it hurled off its outer layers, creating the view we see today.
It's a beautiful and haunting photo, with some important science behind it. The dusty dead star at the heart is all that remains, but amazingly, it's surrounded by a dusty disc of icy material. Where's all this dust coming from? Astronomers believe the death of the star has churned up the region of comets surrounding the star and we are seeing their collisions.
The colourful clouds will fade ( not in our life time), and all we'll see is a tiny white dwarf ember slowly cooling to the ambient temperature of the Universe. This is the same fate that our Sun will also share in about 4 billion years from now.
Source: Spitzer Space Telescope
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