Eye see you… 👁
Back in 1996, NASAHubble revealed the hourglass shape of this young planetary nebula located about 8,000 light-years away. In previous images taken from the ground, the nebula looked like a pair of large outer rings with a smaller central one, but the finer details could not be seen.
Planetary nebulae are created by the death of Sun-like stars: the star collapses to form a dense and hot white dwarf star. At the same time, the dying star throws off its outer layers of material, forming an elaborate cloud of gas and dust known as a planetary nebula. This isn’t an uncommon phenomenon, and yet, this “eye” star is a little unique: it should be at the center of the nebula, but it’s off center.
Hubble also revealed other new and unexpected features in the nebula. For example, there is a pair of intersecting elliptical rings in the central region, which appear to be the rims of a smaller hourglass. There are also the intricate patterns of the etchings on the hourglass walls....
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