Helix Nebula

The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) is a bright, large planetary nebula located 650 light years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius. It is one of the closest planetary nebulae to Earth, as well as one of the brightest. With an apparent magnitude of 7.6 and an apparent size of 25 arcminutes, the nebula is visible in binoculars and easily observed in small telescopes in good conditions. Its striking appearance has earned it the nickname the Eye of God Nebula.

Radius: 2.87 light years

Distance to Earth: 694.7 light years

Age: 10,610 years

Magnitude: 7.6

Absolute magnitude: 6.58

Coordinates: RA 22h 29m 39s | Dec -20° 50′ 14″

Apparent magnitude (V): 7.6

Image credit: Wikipedia 

What is planetary nebula?

Planetary nebulae like the Helix are formed when stars that are not massive enough to go out as supernovae expel their outer envelopes at the end of their evolutionary cycles. The stars become white dwarfs – hot remnant stellar cores – that energize the ejected material. White dwarfs are very dense, typically packing a mass similar to that of the Sun into a volume comparable to that of the Earth. The intense ultraviolet radiation from these stars causes the ejected layers of gas to glow.

More info about Helix nebula....

The Helix Nebula is believed to have formed about 10,600 years ago, when the central star, catalogued as GJ 9785, reached the end of its life cycle and shed its outer layers into space. The nebula’s age is believed to be in the range between 9,400 and 12,900 years based on the measured expansion rate of 31 km/s−1.

Image credit:ESO

This colour-composite image of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) was created from images obtained using the Wide Field Imager (WFI), an astronomical camera attached to the 2.2-metre Max-Planck Society/ESO telescope at the La Silla observatory in Chile. The blue-green glow in the centre of the Helix comes from oxygen atoms shining under effects of the intense ultraviolet radiation of the 120 000 degree Celsius central star and the hot gas. Further out from the star and beyond the ring of knots, the red colour from hydrogen and nitrogen is more prominent. A careful look at the central part of this object reveals not only the knots, but also many remote galaxies seen right through the thinly spread glowing gas.

Temperature:

 The total dust mass across the Helix nebula (without its halo) is determined to be 3.5 × 10−3 M⊙ at a distance of 216 pc. The temperature map shows dust temperatures between 22 K and 42 K, which is similar to the kinetic temperature of the molecular gas, confirming that the dust and gas co-exist in high density clumps.

To see the Helix nebula follow the map:

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