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Credit & Copyright: M. Bobrowsky,
NASA
Explanation:
This
Hubble Space Telescope snapshot 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.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Hen 1357 - white dwarf - planetary nebula
Publications with words: Hen 1357 - white dwarf - planetary nebula
See also:
- The Medusa Nebula
- Jones Emberson 1
- APOD: 2024 February 12 Á HFG1 & Abell 6: Planetary Nebulae
- APOD: 2023 December 24 Á NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf
- APOD: 2023 October 3 Á MyCn 18: The Engraved Hourglass Planetary Nebula
- NGC 1360: The Robin's Egg Nebula
- APOD: 2023 April 16 Á M2 9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula