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Credit & Copyright: H. Bond (STScI),
R. Ciardullo (PSU),
WFPC2,
HST,
NASA;
Processing: Forrest Hamilton
Explanation:
Like a pearl, a white dwarf star shines best after being
freed from its
shell.
In this analogy, however, the Sun would be a mollusk and its discarded hull would shine prettiest of all!
In the above shell of gas and dust, the
planetary nebula designated
NGC 2440, contains one of the
hottest white dwarf stars known.
The glowing stellar pearl can be seen as the bright dot near the image center.
The portion of
NGC 2440 shown spans about one light year.
The center of
our Sun will eventually become a
white dwarf, but
not for another five billion years.
The above false color image
was captured by the
Hubble
Space Telescope in 1995.
NGC 2440 lies about 4,000
light
years distant toward the southern
constellation Puppis.
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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:
- APOD: 2025 August 31 Á NGC 7027: The Pillow Planetary Nebula
- APOD: 2025 August 22 Á A Tale of Two Nebulae
- APOD: 2025 August 5 Á NGC 6072: A Complex Planetary Nebula from Webb
- APOD: 2025 July 29 Á A Helix Nebula Deep Field
- APOD: 2025 July 13 Á Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula
- APOD: 2025 June 9 Á Between Scylla and Charybdis: A Double Cosmic Discovery
- APOD: 2025 May 14 Á NGC 1360: The Robins Egg Nebula