NGC 7293 Helix Nebula
This photograph of the coil-shaped Helix Nebula is one of the largest and most detailed celestial images ever made. The composite picture is a seamless blend of ultra-sharp images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope combined with the wide view of the Mosaic Camera on the National Science Foundation's 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Ariz. The image shows a fine web of filamentary bicycle-spoke features embedded in the colorful red and blue ring of gas. At 650 light-years away, the Helix is one of the nearest planetary nebulae to Earth. A planetary nebula is the glowing gas around a dying, Sun-like star.
| Observatory: | Hubble Space Telescope Low-Earth Orbit |
|---|---|
| Telescope: | Hubble Telescope |
| Instrument: | ACS |
| Astronomer: | The Hubble Helix Team and Dr. Travis Rector |
| Date of Observation: | 11-03-2001 |
| Filters and Assigned Colors: | [OIII] (blue) and H-alpha (red) |
| Exposure Times: | 4.5 hours total |
| Location of Image: | Aquarius |
| Field of View: | 27x27 arcmin |
| Orientation: | North is up, East is to the left |
| Link to Larger Image | |
| Link to Full Resolution Image | |
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