Tag: NGC 7293
Iridescent Eye
by CritterKeeper on Feb.02, 2010, under Eyes in the Sky
Credit: NASA & ESA
Shining with iridescent hues of red and blue, the Helix Nebula resembles an eye in this image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Planetary nebula come in all shapes and sizes. In the case of the Helix Nebula, and the Ring Nebula, we are looking down a trillion-mile-long barrel of gas and dust; all that is left over when the central star shed its outer layers near the end of its life. A planetary nebula is the final stage of a Sun-like star’s life. As a star like our Sun reaches the end of its life, it balloons to a red giant star. While this gives the star new life, providing extra energy to burn it’s hydrogen and helium fuel for nuclear fusion, it cannot last forever. Eventually the star collapses on itself. The outer layers of the star are thrown into space creating a bubble around the star.
A Thousand Tadpoles
by CritterKeeper on Feb.01, 2010, under Water Creatures
Credit: NASA & ESA
A thousand cosmic tadpoles appear to stream toward the central star of the Helix Nebula in this image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
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Thanks for dropping by! This site combines incredible imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope and other great observatories with the imagination of children. Explore and share the patterns you see in the nebula, galaxies and star clusters.Note to Parents and Educators:
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