C63 – Helix Nebula Close-Up

Gases collide near the dying star that produced the Helix Nebula. Astronomers have dubbed the dark, tadpole-like objects in the upper right corner “cometary knots” because their glowing heads and gossamer tails resemble comets. Each gaseous head is at least twice the size of our solar system; each tail stretches 100 billion miles, about a thousand times Earth’s distance to the Sun.