Hen 1357: New Born Nebula
Credit & Copyright: M. Bobrowsky
(OSC),
NASA
Explanation:
This Hubble Space Telescope picture shows Hen-1357,
the youngest known
planetary nebula.
Graceful, gentle curves and symmetry
suggest its popular name -
The Stingray Nebula.
Observations in the 1970s detected no nebular material, but
this image from March 1996 clearly shows the Stingray's emerging
bubbles and rings of shocked and ionized gas.
The gas is energized by the hot central star as it nears the
end of its life, evolving toward a
final white dwarf phase.
The image also shows a companion star (at about 10 o'clock) within
the nebula.
Astronomers suspect that such companions
account for
the complex shapes and rings of
this and many other planetary nebulae.
This cosmic infant is about 130 times the size of our own solar system
and growing.
It is 18,000 light-years distant, in the
southern constellation Ara.
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.
