Sh2-68 • Flaming Skull Planetary Nebula (Douglas J Struble)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Serpens (Ser)

Image of the day 09/28/2020

Sh2-68 • Flaming Skull Planetary Nebula, Douglas J Struble

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Sh2-68 • Flaming Skull Planetary Nebula

Image of the day 09/28/2020

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Sh2-68 • Flaming Skull Planetary Nebula

The Sh2-68's very irregular shape is due to its interaction with the surrounding interstellar medium. The white dwarf is moving rapidly through space and happens to be in a location in our Milky Way galaxy where there is more gas and dust between stars than usual. So as it moves, the gas it blows off is itself blown back, making it look like a giant screaming head with flaming hair, streaking across the Galaxy. The interaction with the interstellar medium also impedes and finally stops the expansion of the nebula.The star itself is the blue one right in the center of the OIII.

Sh2-68 is a very ancient planetary nebula estimated to be 45,000 years old. The distance is still yet to be determined. Over the next several thousand years, the Flaming Skull Nebula will gradually disperse into space, and then the white dwarf will cool and fade away for billions of years. Our own Sun is expected to undergo a similar fate, but fortunately this will not occur until some 5 billion years from now.

Sharpless2 Objects
Planetary Nebulae

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Image of the day 09/28/2020

Sh2-68 • Flaming Skull Planetary Nebula

Image of the day 09/28/2020

Sh2-68 • Flaming Skull Planetary Nebula

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Image of the day 09/28/2020

Sh2-68 • Flaming Skull Planetary Nebula

Image of the day 09/28/2020

Sh2-68 • Flaming Skull Planetary Nebula

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