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Credit & Copyright: JesÇs M.Vargas & Maritxu Poyal
Explanation:
Oh what a
tangled web
a planetary nebula can weave.
The Red Spider Planetary Nebula
shows the complex structure that can result when a
normal star ejects
its outer gases and becomes a
white dwarf star.
Officially tagged
NGC
6537, this two-lobed symmetric
planetary nebula
houses one of the
hottest white dwarfs ever observed,
probably as part of a binary star system.
Internal winds emanating from the central stars, visible in the center,
have been measured in excess of 1000 kilometers per second.
These
winds expand the
nebula, flow along the nebula's walls, and cause waves of hot
gas and
dust to collide.
Atoms
caught in these colliding shocks radiate light shown in the
above representative-color picture by the
Hubble Space Telescope.
The
Red Spider Nebula lies toward the constellation of the Archer
(Sagittarius).
Its distance is not well known but has been
estimated by some to be about 4,000 light-years.
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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: planetary nebula - NGC 6537
Publications with words: planetary nebula - NGC 6537
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