Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Aquarius (Aqr)  ·  Contains:  Helix Nebula  ·  NGC 7293  ·  PK036-57.1
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NGC 7293 Helix Nebula #2, Molly Wakeling
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NGC 7293 Helix Nebula #2

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NGC 7293 Helix Nebula #2, Molly Wakeling
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NGC 7293 Helix Nebula #2

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Description

Most planetary nebula appear very small in telescopes, but this one is quite close (in astronomical terms), so it appears much larger - in visible light, nearly the size of the full Moon. It's only about 700 lightyears away. Planetary nebulae are the end state of smallish stars like our Sun that aren't massive enough to go supernova - they eject their gas over tens of thousands of years. It's about 2.5 lightyears across, and is called the Helix because it appears from our vantage point that we are looking down a helical structure. Some call it the Eye of God, or the Eye of Sauron. The red is hydrogen-alpha emission, and the blue-green is from a specific oxygen transition that occurs in low-density gas (called OIII).

Blog entry link: [url=http://astronomollylog.blogspot.com/2017/07/100-friday-july-28-2017-100th-trip.html&quot;]Blog entry link< /a>

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NGC 7293 Helix Nebula #2, Molly Wakeling