Astronomy Picture of the Day
    


NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf
<< Yesterday 21.02.2010 Tomorrow >>
NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf
Credit & Copyright: H. Bond (STScI), R. Ciardullo (PSU), WFPC2, HST, NASA
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! In 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 was post-processed by Forrest Hamilton.


January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
 < February 2010  >
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
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.

Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day

Publications with keywords: NGC 2440 - white dwarf - planetary nebula
Publications with words: NGC 2440 - white dwarf - planetary nebula
See also:
All publications on this topic >>