Cocoon of a New White Dwarf
Explanation:
Like a
butterfly,
a
white dwarf star begins its life
by casting off a cocoon that enclosed its former self. In this
analogy, however, the
Sun would be
a
caterpillar
and the ejected shell of gas would become the prettiest of all!
The above cocoon, the
planetary nebula
designated NGC 2440,
contains one of the hottest white dwarf
stars known.
The white dwarf can be seen as the bright dot near the photo's
center.
Our
Sun will eventually become a "white dwarf butterfly",
but not for another 5 billion years. The
above false color image
recently
entered the public domain
and was post-processed by
F. Hamilton.
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.
