The Planetary Nebula Show
Explanation:
What do the Owl, the Cat's Eye, the Ghost of Jupiter, and Saturn
have in common?
They're all
planetary nebulae
of course, glowing gaseous
shrouds shed by dying sun-like stars
as
they run out of nuclear fuel.
Beautiful to
look at,
the symmetric,
planet-like
shapes of these
cosmic clouds,
typically 1,000 times the size of our
solar system,
evoke their popular names.
Flipping through digital pictures made by
participants in the Kitt Peak
National Observatory Visitor Center's
Advanced Observing Program,
astronomer Adam Block
created this
delightful animation.
Ten different planetary nebula images are presented, each registered
on the central star.
In order, their catalog designations are
NGC
1535,
NGC 3242 (Ghost of Jupiter),
NGC 6543 (Cat's Eye),
NGC 7009 (Saturn Nebula),
NGC 2438,
NGC 6772,
Abell 39,
NGC 7139,
NGC 6781,
and
M97 (Owl Nebula).
This
glorious final phase
in the life of a star lasts only about 10,000 years.
Tomorrow's picture: above the sky
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.
