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Hourglass Nebula
Monday, September 27, 2010 - Ehud Rattner
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Since 1995, astronomers used the NASA Hubble Space Telescope to make a series of images of planetary nebulae, including this one. When its nuclear fuel is exhausted, the closing phase will begin; the outer layers will be ejected and the core will become a cooling, fading white dwarf.
In this image, delicate rings of colorful glowing gas (nitrogen-red, hydrogen-green, and oxygen-blue) outline the tenuous walls of the “hourglass,” indicating the remaining time left for this star. These images were captured thanks to Hubble's sharpness, and now astronomers hope that it will help them learn more about the nebula ejection process. Moreover, it may resolve the outstanding mystery of the variety of complex shapes and symmetries of planetary nebulae.
(Source: NASA)
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