NGC 7027: A Dying Star's Nebula
Explanation:
This pseudo-color composite of two recent
Hubble Space Telescope images
is a picture of a Sun-like star nearing the end of its
lifetime.
The exquisite details
visible in this
planetary nebula
indicate that
when the star passed through its
Red Giant phase
it initially
shrugged off its outer atmosphere gently
and evenly producing the outer faint
spherical shells. As the process continued, material was apparently
ejected in dense clumps producing dust clouds in
the bright inner regions.
The whole ejection process was amazingly rapid, taking only
a few thousand years compared to a 10 billion year lifetime typical
for Solar type stars. In the end the hot stellar core,
now a
white dwarf star,
was left - seen here as a white dot
at the center of the nebula.
Our middle-aged
Sun will experience a
similar fate ... in about 5 billion years!
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
