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Planetary Nebula

All articles tagged with #planetary nebula

JWST maps brain-like nebula PMR 1 in a dying star’s last act
astronomy22 hours ago

JWST maps brain-like nebula PMR 1 in a dying star’s last act

The James Webb Space Telescope provides high‑resolution infrared views of PMR 1, the Exposed Cranium Nebula about 5,000 light‑years away in Vela. Webb’s NIRCam and MIRI imaging reveal a brain‑like structure of inner gases surrounded by a thinner hydrogen shell, with a split that may be caused by polar jets from the dying star. The central star’s nature remains uncertain: it was once considered a Wolf–Rayet type, but this is not confirmed, leaving PMR 1’s true identity—possibly a planetary nebula around a sun‑like star or a Wolf–Rayet remnant—open to interpretation.

via Space|
#astronomy#exposed-cranium-nebula#james-webb-space-telescope
Iron Bar Mystery Emerges at Ring Nebula's Core
science1 month ago

Iron Bar Mystery Emerges at Ring Nebula's Core

Astronomers using the WEAVE instrument on the William Herschel Telescope have found a giant, straight bar of ionized iron at the center of the Ring Nebula, a first for a nebula. The iron bar is unusually massive and not explained by a jet from the white dwarf or by iron release from dust; its 3D shape could extend beyond our line of sight, and a torn-apart planet origin is unlikely. More observations of other nebulae are needed to uncover the iron's origin.

via ScienceAlert|
#iron#planetary-nebula#ring-nebula
Webb Zooms in on Helix Nebula: A Dying Star’s Dusty Curtain
space1 month ago

Webb Zooms in on Helix Nebula: A Dying Star’s Dusty Curtain

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captures a sharp close-up of the Helix Nebula, a planetary nebula about 650 light-years away formed when a Sun-like star shed its outer layers and left a white dwarf at its center; Webb’s infrared view reveals hot gas and cooler dust, illustrating how dying stars recycle heavier elements into the cosmos and seed future planets, with binary interactions potentially triggering novae.

via Futurism|
#cosmic-dust#helix-nebula#james-webb-space-telescope
Webb Reveals the Helix Nebula’s Eye and Its Cometary Knots
space1 month ago

Webb Reveals the Helix Nebula’s Eye and Its Cometary Knots

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope delivers a sharper infrared view of the Helix Nebula, the nearby planetary nebula nicknamed the Eye of Sauron, revealing about 40,000 cometary knots as the dying star sheds its outer layers. The image, updating Hubble's famed portrait, shows how the gas glows under the nebula’s radiation and how the knots persist against the expanding wind. The Helix lies ~650 light-years away and will fade over the next 10,000–20,000 years as the gas disperses, offering a glimpse of the Sun's eventual fate as a red giant that becomes a white dwarf.

via ScienceAlert|
#cometary-knots#helix-nebula#hubble
Webb’s Lava-Lamp View of the Eye of God: Helix Nebula Revealed
space1 month ago

Webb’s Lava-Lamp View of the Eye of God: Helix Nebula Revealed

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have released a highly detailed infrared image of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), a nearby planetary nebula nicknamed the Eye of God. The image shows hot gas winds from a dying star colliding with older shells of gas and dust, revealing comet-like knots and layered structures, and offering a glimpse of our Sun’s distant future as well as the potential for planet formation in the surrounding dust.

via Space|
#eye-of-god#helix-nebula#infrared-imaging
Cosmic Iron Bar Spans Ring Nebula, Baffling Scientists
space1 month ago

Cosmic Iron Bar Spans Ring Nebula, Baffling Scientists

Using the WEAVE instrument in the Canary Islands, astronomers mapped the Ring Nebula (M57) and discovered a rare, 3.7 trillion‑mile‑long bar of ionized iron spanning its interior, containing as much iron as Earth’s molten core. The origin is unknown—potentially the vaporized remains of a rocky planet or a product of nebular processes—and researchers plan further observations to see if other elements are present and how common such features are in nebulae.

via PetaPixel|
#astronomy#iron-bar#planetary-nebula
Webb captures the Helix Nebula in stunning detail, revealing a star's final breath
space1 month ago

Webb captures the Helix Nebula in stunning detail, revealing a star's final breath

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope released a high‑resolution image of the Helix Nebula, a nearby planetary nebula about 655 light-years away, showing vivid gas pillars around a white dwarf core. The colors map temperature and chemistry, illustrating the dying star's final breath and the raw material that could seed new planets, building on Hubble’s iconic views with sharper detail and new insights into how planetary systems may form from stellar death.

via Ars Technica|
#astronomy#helix-nebula#james-webb-space-telescope
Ring Nebula Reveals a Hidden Iron Bar, Stoking New Space Clues
space1 month ago

Ring Nebula Reveals a Hidden Iron Bar, Stoking New Space Clues

Researchers using the William Herschel Telescope’s WEAVE instrument detected a long, ionized-iron structure—an iron bar—within the Ring Nebula (M57). The bar extends roughly 1,000 Pluto–Sun distances and contains iron mass about that of Mars, located in the nebula’s inner region. Its origin is unknown, with theories ranging from the star’s outer-layer ejection to vaporizing a rocky planet. A follow-up study at higher resolution is planned, and the team published their findings in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

via Space|
#iron-bar#planetary-nebula#ring-nebula