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APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 5:05 am
by APOD Robot
The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical and X-ray
Explanation: To some it looks like a cat's eye. To others, perhaps like a giant cosmic
conch shell. It is actually one of the brightest and most highly detailed
planetary nebula known, composed of gas expelled in the brief yet glorious phase near the end of life of a Sun-like star.
This nebula's dying central star may have produced the outer circular
concentric shells by
shrugging off
outer layers in a series of regular convulsions. The
formation of the beautiful, complex-yet-symmetric
inner structures, however, is
not well understood. The
featured image is a composite of a digitally sharpened
Hubble Space Telescope image with
X-ray light
captured by the orbiting
Chandra Observatory. The exquisite floating space statue spans over half a
light-year across. Of course,
gazing into this Cat's Eye, humanity may well be seeing the fate of our sun, destined to enter its own
planetary nebula phase of evolution ... in
about 5 billion years.
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 11:17 am
by alex555
When we think that this magnificent image also contains the end of an immensity of things which happened while this star had its procession of planets and perhaps also hundreds of millions of years of memories of living beings, under one form or another, and now dispersed.
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 1:41 pm
by AVAO
It is interesting to compare the HST image with JWST (growing of 15 years difference) ...
and I like Webbles
![Smile :-)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
(@Ann: ...even if colors come out wrong)
Original data: NASA/ESA/CSA (HST/JWST) jac berne (flickr)
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:02 pm
by CaptainRoll
The fate of this planet and solar system in about 5 billion years; LOL. It would be interesting to see the solar system we live in overlaid (in scale) on this image. The distance between objects when talking X light-years is just hard to comprehend.
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:39 pm
by Christian G.
Stars are utterly beautiful from birth to death, and on top of it their atomic legacy as they die is full of promise for future worlds!
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:56 pm
by Chris Peterson
CaptainRoll wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:02 pm
The fate of this planet and solar system in about 5 billion years; LOL. It would be interesting to see the solar system we live in overlaid (in scale) on this image. The distance between objects when talking X light-years is just hard to comprehend.
This object is about the same size as the Solar System, with its outer edge located somewhere in our Oort Cloud, were they overlaid. Earth, of course, at this scale, isn't visually separable from the center star.
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 3:35 pm
by johnnydeep
Looks a bit like a
Phlox flower to me.
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 4:22 pm
by zendae1
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 3:35 pm
Looks a bit like a
Phlox flower to me.
lol...
And to a horticultural guy like me, it begs a question I have never ever considered before: Are celestial phenomenon fragrant?
![:) :ssmile:](./images/smilies/smile.gif)
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 4:36 pm
by Chris Peterson
zendae1 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 4:22 pm
And to a horticultural guy like me, it begs a question I have never ever considered before: Are celestial phenomenon fragrant?
Well, the seventh planet certainly has a reputation...
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 4:40 pm
by zendae1
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 4:36 pm
zendae1 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 4:22 pm
And to a horticultural guy like me, it begs a question I have never ever considered before: Are celestial phenomenon fragrant?
Well, the seventh planet certainly has a reputation...
And it's still waiting for that cosmic bidet...
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 6:12 pm
by Fred the Cat
zendae1 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 4:40 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 4:36 pm
zendae1 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 4:22 pm
And to a horticultural guy like me, it begs a question I have never ever considered before: Are celestial phenomenon fragrant? :s
Well, the seventh planet certainly has a reputation...
And it's still waiting for that cosmic bidet...
I find it
illuminating that jets may arise from different astronomic objects but seem to have the same
mechanism – star birth to death.
But, like a
cat chasing its own
tail, the
tip-off is just out of reach.
![Confused :?](./images/smilies/icon_confused.gif)
The bidet metaphor might be on the right
tail.
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 9:10 pm
by johnnydeep
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:56 pm
CaptainRoll wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:02 pm
The fate of this planet and solar system in about 5 billion years; LOL. It would be interesting to see the solar system we live in overlaid (in scale) on this image. The distance between objects when talking X light-years is just hard to comprehend.
This object is about the same size as the Solar System, with its outer edge located somewhere in our Oort Cloud, were they overlaid. Earth, of course, at this scale, isn't visually separable from the center star.
Here's some context:
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 10:12 pm
by Chris Peterson
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 9:10 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:56 pm
CaptainRoll wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:02 pm
The fate of this planet and solar system in about 5 billion years; LOL. It would be interesting to see the solar system we live in overlaid (in scale) on this image. The distance between objects when talking X light-years is just hard to comprehend.
This object is about the same size as the Solar System, with its outer edge located somewhere in our Oort Cloud, were they overlaid. Earth, of course, at this scale, isn't visually separable from the center star.
Here's some context:
solar system over cays eye.jpg
Which also reveals the size of the Solar System in comparison with the orbits of the planets... the outer edge of the Oort cloud extends nearly to Alpha Centauri, well outside the green circle!
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 10:16 pm
by johnnydeep
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 10:12 pm
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 9:10 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:56 pm
This object is about the same size as the Solar System, with its outer edge located somewhere in our Oort Cloud, were they overlaid. Earth, of course, at this scale, isn't visually separable from the center star.
Here's some context:
solar system over cays eye.jpg
Which also reveals the size of the Solar System in comparison with the orbits of the planets... the outer edge of the Oort cloud extends nearly to Alpha Centauri, well outside the green circle!
Indeed - note the logarithmic distance scale:
Re: APOD: The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical... (2024 Jan 07)
Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2024 12:54 pm
by CaptainRoll
Thanks for the explanation and responses. Daily APOD images are amazing to say the least.