Astronomers now have their most detailed view yet of the Helix nebula, one of the closest planetary nebulae to Earth.
The image comes from the
VISTA telescope, the world's largest survey telescope, at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. Using infrared light filters, scientists have colored the image to reflect the spectrum of radiation from the nebula. It's the best image yet of the Helix nebula, said Jeremy Walsh, a scientist at the European Southern Observatory in Germany.
Contrary to its name, a planetary nebula does not include a planet. Rather, it forms like this: As a star ages and gets larger, the gas that surrounds it starts to get blown off into a large, fuzzy ball of gas. The star heats up and lights up the nebula, which refers to the molecular gas, ionized metal and dust around it.
The Helix nebula resides in the constellation Aquarius about 700 light-years away. It's quite large - its main ring is 2 light-years across, although its material spreads out to 4 light-years. The star at its center is evolving to become a white dwarf