Cleopatra's Eye

Cleopatra’s Eye, or NGC 1535, is a planetary nebula in the constellation Eridanus. This nebula has an unusual structure that is similar to the better-known NGC 2392, with an outer region and a brighter inner center. A planetary nebula forms when a star approximately the size of our Sun dies, exhaling its outer layers into space as the core turns into a white dwarf star. Through early telescopes these objects resembled planets ― giving them their name ― but planetary nebulae are unrelated to actual planets. Observations of the distance between NGC 1535’s central star and its possible companion suggest that Cleopatra’s Eye is indeed part of a gravitationally bound binary star system.