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Fading Stingray Nebula

Two different portraits of the Stingray nebula

This image compares two drastically different portraits of the Stingray nebula captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope 20 years apart. The image on the left, taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 in March 1996, shows the nebula’s central star in the final stages of its life. The gas being puffed off by the dying star is much brighter when compared to the image of the nebula at the right, captured in January 2016 using the Wide Field Camera 3. The Stingray nebula is located in the direction of the southern constellation Ara (the Altar).

About the Object

R.A. Position
R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
17:16:21.07
Dec. Position
Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
-59:29:23.64
Constellation
ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
Ara
Distance
DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
18,260 light-years
Dimensions
DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
Image is about 6 arcsec across (about 0.5 light-years)

About the Data

Data Description
Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
The HST observations include those from programs 6039 (M. Bobrowsky) and 14126 (Z. Edwards)
Instrument
InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
WFCP2 and WFC3/UVIS
Exposure Dates
Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
09 March 1996 and 22 January 2016
Filters
FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
F502N, F656N, F658N

Object Name
Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
Hen 3-1357 (Stingray Nebula)
Object Description
Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
Planetary Nebula
Release Date
December 3, 2020
Science Release
Hubble Captures Unprecedented Fading of Stingray Nebula
Read the release
Credit
NASA, ESA, B. Balick (University of Washington), M. Guerrero (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía), and G. Ramos-Larios (Universidad de Guadalajara)

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These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFPC2 and WFC3/UVIS instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F502N Green: F656N Red: F658N

Related Images & Videos

Stingray Nebula in 1996

This image shows the planetary nebula Hen 3-1357, nicknamed the Stingray nebula, captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in March 1996. The image captures the final stages of the central star’s life, where a ballooning shroud of gas is cast off by the dying star. This image...

Stingray Nebula in 2016

This image shows the planetary nebula Hen 3-1357, nicknamed the Stingray nebula, captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in January 2016. This image of the Stingray nebula shows it has changed drastically in brightness and shape when compared to its first portrait by Hubble in...

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