About 700 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Aquarius, a star that looks like a star to the Sun has reached the final stage of its life. Over the last few years, it has formed the Spiral Nebula (NGC 7293), a classic example of this final stage of stellar evolution. This close and well-studied planetary nebula provides a great example of the clouds of gas and dust emitted by dying stars.

This large image of the Spiral Cloud was obtained with a total exposure of 90 hours. By combining and decomposing narrow-band beam data, in which hydrogen atoms emit shades of red and oxygen atoms emit shades of blue-green, this image reveals remarkable details of the brighter interior of the clouds, which span about 3 light-years. The bright white dot in the center is the star of the hot center of these planetary clouds. Although at first glance it appears to have a simple structure, the Spiral Nebula turns out to have a very complex geometry.

October 14, 2021 Astronomy Photo of the Day (NASA APOD)

 

Image Source & Copyright: Ignacio Diaz Bobillo