Iconic Space Images #1
Here’s the Most Iconic Image of Deep Space — The Helix Nebula
There is perhaps no space picture more iconic, more associated with deep space, more in popular email forwards, than the famous Eye of God, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2002.
The Helix Nebula lies 700 light years away in the Aquarius constellation. A nebula is formed when a dying star expels with tremendous energy all of the gases in its outer layers. The central core of the nebula has a white dot, which is the dying star, now in a stage called the white dwarf stage.
The nebula has been photographed by other telescopes that see in different specturms. Spitzer telescope captured this image in the infrared spectrum.
The white dwarf is visble at the very centre, surrounded by a red circle, which is the final layers of gases blown away from the star.
Our own sun will continue to expand over the next few billion years, becoming a red giant, swallowing up Mercury and Venus, then blowing off its outer layers to become a planetary nebula like the Helix Nebula, before finally settling into the white dwarf stage.
Helix Nebula is a popular subject of photography among amateurs due to its bright colors and resemblance to the human eye.
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