Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Aquarius (Aqr)  ·  Contains:  Helix Nebula  ·  NGC 7293
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
The Helix Nebula, NGC7293, Michael McGowan
The Helix Nebula, NGC7293
Powered byPixInsight

The Helix Nebula, NGC7293

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
The Helix Nebula, NGC7293, Michael McGowan
The Helix Nebula, NGC7293
Powered byPixInsight

The Helix Nebula, NGC7293

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

This is the Helix nebula - also known as the Eye of God.  I took 30 hrs worth of photographs and combined them all to produce the image you see here.  This nebula lies about 650 light years away. It was created approximately 10,000 years ago when a star similar to our sun used up all its fuel (Hydrogen and then Helium) and shed its outer layers.  What is left is the planetary nebula seen in this image.  In the center, is a white dwarf which contains roughly the same mass as the original star, but compacted into a sphere approximately the size of the earth.  The nebula is continuing its expansion at 90,000 mile per hour.  Our sun may face the same fate, but scientists estimate that we have about 5 billion years before that will happen.

Comments

Revisions

  • The Helix Nebula, NGC7293, Michael McGowan
    Original
  • Final
    The Helix Nebula, NGC7293, Michael McGowan
    B

B

Description: In this revision, the image has been reprocessed to better show the cometary knots

Uploaded: ...

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

The Helix Nebula, NGC7293, Michael McGowan