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Credit & Copyright: Damien Cannane
Explanation:
Braided and serpentine filaments of glowing gas
suggest this nebula's popular name, The Medusa Nebula.
Also known as Abell 21, this Medusa is an old
planetary nebula
some 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Gemini.
Like its mythological
namesake, the nebula is associated with a dramatic transformation.
The planetary nebula
phase represents a final stage in
the evolution
of low mass stars like the sun as they transform themselves from
red giants
to hot white dwarf
stars and in the process shrug off their outer layers.
Ultraviolet
radiation
from the hot star powers the nebular glow.
The Medusa's transforming star is the faint one near the center
of the overall bright crescent shape.
In this deep telescopic view,
fainter filaments clearly extend
above and left of the bright crescent region.
The Medusa Nebula is estimated to be over
4 light-years
across.
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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
Publications with words: planetary nebula
See also:
- 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
- The Medusa Nebula
- Jones Emberson 1