NGC 6210: The Turtle in Space Planetary Nebula
Explanation:
A Turtle in Space?
Planetary nebula
NGC 6210 may look like a giant space turtle,
but it is actually much more massive and violent.
Fortunately, this gas cloud in
Hercules lies about 6500 light years away.
NGC 6210 was
investigated with the
Hubble Space Telescope
because it showed evidence of unusual
relative abundances of nebular gas.
The resulting detailed representative-color picture,
above, shows jets of
hot gas streaming through holes in an older, cooler shell of gas.
The central star that created the
planetary nebula is clearly visible
in the center of the inset image.
Analyses of data involving
this recently released picture
may help explain the origin of
chemical abundances in this nebula and
our Galaxy.
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.
