NGC 2392, Eskimo Nebula, Composite
NGC 2392, (Eskimo Nebula) is what astronomers call a planetary nebula. Planetary nebulas form when a star uses up all of the hydrogen in its core, an event our Sun will go through in about five billion years. When this happens, the star begins to cool and expand, increasing its radius by tens to hundreds of times its original size. Eventually, the outer layers of the star are carried away by a 50,000 kilometer per hour wind, leaving behind a hot core. This hot core has a surface temperature of about 50,000 degrees Celsius, and is ejecting its outer layers in a much faster wind traveling six million kilometers per hour. The radiation from the hot star and the interaction of its fast wind with the slower wind creates the complex and filamentary shell of a planetary nebula. Eventually the remnant star will collapse to form a white dwarf star. This composite image of NGC 2392 contains X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in purple showing the location of million-degree gas near the center of the planetary nebula. Data from the Hubble Space Telescope show (colored red, green, and blue) the intricate pattern of the outer layers of the star that have been ejected. The comet-shaped filaments form when the faster wind and radiation from the central star interact with cooler shells of dust and gas that were already ejected by the star. Release date July 11, 2013.
Size: 3600px × 3600px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -ray, 21st, 39, 2013, 2392, astronomical, astronomy, bipolar, body, caldwell, celestial, century, chandra, cloud, clownface, composite, cxc, deep, detection, double-shell, emission, eskimo, heavenly, hst, hubble, image, interstellar, nebula, nebulae, ngc, object, observation, observatory, planetary, pn, region, science, sky, space, star-forming, telescope
