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Credit & Copyright: Data:
Michael Joner (West Mountain Observatory,
BYU),
Romano
Corradi (IAC),
Hubble Legacy Archive -
Processing:
Robert Gendler
Explanation:
Not a Falcon 9
rocket launch after sunset, 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
composited picture, processed to reveal an
enormous but extremely faint halo of gaseous material, over three
light-years across.
Made with data from ground- and space-based telescopes
it shows the extended emission which surrounds the brighter, familiar
planetary nebula.
Planetary nebulae have long been appreciated as a final phase
in
the life of a sun-like star.
But only more recently 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
outer filamentary
portions of this halo to be 50,000 to 90,000 years old.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Cat's Eye Nebula - planetary nebula
Publications with words: Cat's Eye Nebula - planetary nebula
See also:
- APOD: 2024 February 12 Á HFG1 & Abell 6: Planetary Nebulae
- APOD: 2024 January 7 Á The Cats Eye Nebula in Optical and X-ray
- APOD: 2023 December 24 Á NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf
- APOD: 2023 October 3 Á MyCn 18: The Engraved Hourglass Planetary Nebula
- NGC 1360: The Robin's Egg Nebula
- Cat s Eye Wide and Deep
- APOD: 2023 April 16 Á M2 9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula