A glimpse into the heart of a dying star
This image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the young planetary nebula Henize 3-401. Hubble's extraordinary vision reveals that it is one of the most elongated planetary nebulae found so far. The image shows two very long cylindrical outflows with intricate thread-like structures and tattered ends. We are seeing the central star responsible for the beautiful display for the first time in this image. Henize 3-401 is located in the constellation of Carina (the Keel) at an approximate distance of 10 000 light-years. This picture is composed of three exposures obtained with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on 12 June 1997. The three exposures were taken through a wide orange filter (1200 seconds) shown in blue, a hydrogen-alpha filter (400 seconds) shown in red, and a singly ionised sulphur filter (1200 seconds) shown in green.
Credit:European Space Agency and Pedro Garcma-Lario (ESA ISO Data Centre)
About the Image
Id: | heic0209a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 18 July 2002, 15:00 |
Related releases: | heic0209 |
Size: | 1428 x 1182 px |
About the Object
Name: | Hen 3-401 |
Type: | Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary |
Distance: | 10000 light years |
Constellation: | Carina |
Category: | Nebulae |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 10 19 32.55 |
Position (Dec): | -60° 13' 29.02" |
Field of view: | 0.54 x 0.45 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 160.1° right of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Telescope |
---|---|
Optical R |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Optical Sii |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Optical H-alpha |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |