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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
The Helix Nebula in Infrared
Explanation: What makes this cosmic eye look so red ? Dust. The featured image from the robotic Spitzer Space Telescope shows infrared light from the well-studied Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) a mere 700 light-years away in the constellation of the Water Carrier Aquarius . The two light-year diameter shroud of dust and gas around a central white dwarf has long been considered an excellent example of a planetary nebula , representing the final stages in the evolution of a Sun-like star. But the Spitzer data show the nebula 's central star itself is immersed in a surprisingly bright infrared glow. Models suggest the glow is produced by a dust debris disk . Even though the nebular material was ejected from the star many thousands of years ago, the close-in dust could have been generated by collisions in a reservoir of objects analogous to our own solar system's Kuiper Belt or cometary Oort cloud . Had the comet-like bodies formed in the distant planetary system, they would have survived even the dramatic late stages of the star's evolution .
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| Date | September 20, 2016 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Image Credit: NASA , JPL-Caltech , Spitzer Space Telescope ; Processing: Judy Schmidt |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |