by APOD Robot » Sun Jun 07, 2020 4:05 am
Halo of the Cat's Eye
Explanation: The
Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the best known planetary nebulae
in the sky. Its haunting
symmetries are seen in the very central region of
this stunning false-color picture, processed to reveal the enormous but extremely faint halo of gaseous material, over three
light-years across, which surrounds the brighter, familiar
planetary nebula. Made with data from the
Nordic Optical Telescope in the
Canary Islands, the composite picture shows extended emission from the nebula.
Planetary nebulae have long been appreciated as a final phase
in the life of a Sun-like star. Only much more recently however, have some planetaries been
found to have halos like this one, likely formed of material shrugged off during earlier active episodes in the
star's evolution. While the
planetary nebula phase is
thought to last for around 10,000 years, astronomers estimate the age of the
outer filamentary portions of this halo to be 50,000 to 90,000 years.
[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200607.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_200607.jpg[/img] [size=150]Halo of the Cat's Eye[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] The [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap091227.html]Cat's Eye Nebula[/url] (NGC 6543) is one of the best known planetary nebulae [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190501.html]in the sky[/url]. Its haunting [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080804.html]symmetries[/url] are seen in the very central region of [url=https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0414b/]this stunning false-color picture[/url], processed to reveal the enormous but extremely faint halo of gaseous material, over three [url=https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html]light-years[/url] across, which surrounds the brighter, familiar [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula]planetary nebula[/url]. Made with data from the [url=http://www.not.iac.es/]Nordic Optical Telescope[/url] in the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Islands]Canary Islands[/url], the composite picture shows extended emission from the nebula. [url=https://www.noao.edu/jacoby/pn_gallery.html]Planetary nebulae[/url] have long been appreciated as a final phase [url=http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lifecycles/stars.html]in the life[/url] of a Sun-like star. Only much more recently however, have some planetaries been [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140522.html]found to have halos[/url] like this one, likely formed of material shrugged off during earlier active episodes in the [url=https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve]star's evolution[/url]. While the [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ4-m1vtTmE]planetary nebula phase[/url] is [url=https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/09/04/08/24/cat-4451003_1280.jpg]thought to[/url] last for around 10,000 years, astronomers estimate the age of the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw0VJ1K93PM]outer filamentary portions[/url] of this halo to be 50,000 to 90,000 years.
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