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> Planetary nebula NGC 6543 in Draco

Planetary nebula NGC 6543 in Draco

author: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team/Novapix

reference: a-nep65-43002

Image Size 300 DPI: 21 * 21 cm

The nebula is one of the most complex planetary nebula seen in space. A planetary nebula forms when Sun-like stars gently eject their outer gaseous layers that form bright nebulae with amazing and confounding shapes. Each 'ring' is actually the edge of a spherical bubble seen projected onto the sky " that's why it appears bright along its outer edge. Observations suggest the star ejected its mass in a series of pulses at 1,500-year intervals. These convulsions created dust shells, each of which contain as much mass as all of the planets in our solar system combined (still only one percent of the Sun's mass). These concentric shells make a layered, onion-skin structure around the dying star. The view from Hubble obtained in September 2002 is like seeing an onion cut in half, where each skin layer is discernible.

Keywords for this photo:

2002 - ACT010210 - ASTRONOMY - CAT'S EYE - DRACO - DYING STAR - EVOLUTION - HST - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - NEBULA - NGC 6543 - PLANETARY NEBULA - STAR -