A New View of the Helix Nebula
This composite image is a view of the colorful Helix Nebula taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the Mosaic II Camera on the 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The object is so large that both telescopes were needed to capture a complete view. The Helix is a planetary nebula, the glowing gaseous envelope expelled by a dying, sun-like star. The Helix resembles a simple doughnut as seen from Earth. But looks can be deceiving. New evidence suggests that the Helix consists of two gaseous disks nearly perpendicular to each other.
Credit:
NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), and M. Meixner, P. McCullough, and G. Bacon ( Space Telescope Science Institute)
About the Image
NASA caption
| Id: | opo0432d |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 16 December 2004, 16:00 |
| Size: | 6145 x 6623 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Helix Nebula, NGC 7293 |
| Type: | • Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary • Nebulae Images/Videos |
| Distance: | 700 light years |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Optical Oiii |
502 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
| Optical H-alpha |
658 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
Notes: Additional data captured by the Mosaic II Camera on the 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO).
