The Helix Nebula from the VISTA Telescope
Will our
Sun
look like this one day?
The Helix Nebula is one of brightest and closest examples of a
planetary nebula, a gas
cloud created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star.
The outer gasses of the star
expelled into space appear from our
vantage point as if we are looking down a helix.
The remnant central stellar core, destined to become a white dwarf star, glows in light so
energetic it causes the previously expelled gas to fluoresce.
The Helix Nebula, given a technical designation of
NGC 7293,
lies about 700 light-years away towards the
constellation of the Water Bearer (Aquarius)
and spans about 2.5 light-years.
The above picture was taken three colors on infrared light
by the 4.1-meter
Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA)
at the
European Southern Observatory's
Paranal Observatory in
Chile.
A close-up of the
inner edge of the Helix Nebula shows complex gas knots of
unknown origin.
