Spectacular 'cosmic eye', Helix nebula, captured by telescope

[emad]

From The Times February 26, 2009

http://www.foxnews.com/js/photoPop.html?0

Mark Henderson London A spectacular “cosmic eye” has been photographed in space by a telescope in Chile, showing a distant nebula in which Sunlike stars are burning themselves out.

The image of the Helix nebula, which lies 700 light years in the constellation Aquarius, was captured with the Wide Field Imager instrument at the European La Silla Observatory.

The Helix is a planetary nebula – a kind of stellar old people’s home, in which stars at the end of their lives shed clouds of gas, often creating intricate patterns that shine with great beauty. The Helix nebula is one of the closest planetary nebulae to Earth but it is hard to see visually because its light is spread thinly over a large area of sky, a quarter of the size of the full Moon. In this image, right, a rich background of distant galaxies can also be seen.

The main ring of the Helix nebula is about two light years across, or half the distance between the Sun and the nearest star. Around the inside of the ring, it is possible to see small blobs that resemble droplets of water, known as “cometary knots”, which have faint tails that extend away from the central star.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5805089.ece

[Bill McBlueState]

1. here's the image

[emad]

2. Thanks.

x

[liberal N proud]

3. We are being watched

:rofl:

[TlalocW]

6. SAURON...

IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE!

TlalocW

[sarge43]

4. If you like the eye, you're going love the rest of the critter.

Thanks for the picture.

[enlightenment]

5. Beautiful.

Thank you for posting.