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Planetary nebulae can look simple,
round, and planet-like in small telescopes.
But images from the orbiting
Hubble Space Telescope have become
well known for showing these fluorescent
gas shrouds of
dying
Sun-like stars to possess a
staggering variety
of detailed symmetries and shapes.
This composite color Hubble image of NGC 6751, the Glowing Eye Nebula, is a beautiful example of a
classic
planetary nebula
with complex features.
It was selected in April of 2000 to commemorate the
tenth
anniversary of Hubble in orbit,
but was reprocessed recently by an amateur as part of the
Hubble Legacy program.
Winds and radiation from the intensely hot central
star
(140,000 degrees
Celsius)
have apparently created
the nebula's streamer-like features.
The nebula's
actual diameter is approximately 0.8 light-years
or about 600 times the size of our Solar System.
NGC 6751
is 6,500 light-years distant in the high-flying constellation of the Eagle
(Aquila).
Credit:
Hubble Legacy Archive,
ESA,
NASA;
Processing -
Donald Waid
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