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Credit & Copyright: Bernhard Hubl
Explanation:
Planetary nebula Abell 78
stands out in this colorful telescopic skyscape.
In fact the colors of the spiky Milky Way stars depend on their
surface temperatures,
both cooler (yellowish) and hotter (bluish) than the Sun.
But Abell 78 shines by the characteristic emission of
ionized atoms in the tenuous shroud
of material shrugged off from an intensely hot central star.
The atoms are ionized, their electrons stripped away,
by the central star's energetic but otherwise invisible ultraviolet
light.
The visible blue-green glow of loops and filaments in the
nebula's central region corresponds to
emission from
doubly ionized oxygen atoms,
surrounded by strong red emission from ionized hydrogen.
Some 5,000 light-years distant toward the constellation Cygnus, Abell 78
is about three light-years across.
A planetary nebula
like Abell 78 represents a very brief
final
phase in stellar evolution
that our own Sun will experience ... in about 5 billion years.
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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: planetary nebula
Publications with words: 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